Empty Memories
by Naitan
Summary: All human. Warning- female pairings and themes. Rated M for violence, abuse and possibly sex scenes. Alice/Bella. Bella meets a troubled mute called Alice at a rehabilitation clinic. As their relationship deepens, they learn more of each others' troubles.
1. Rehab Clinic

**Hey, people. Not even 6 hours after I finish one story, and I'm back with another! Well, this story is a romance story, rather than a romance/adventure, like the last one.**

**Well, read and tell me what you think!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.**

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My left shoulder sent pain messages to my brain, telling me it was time to open my eyes. I obliged it, hoping that the pain would stop.

The unfamiliar surroundings took me by surprise. Where was I? The pain in my left arm started again, telling me that I had to do something. I looked to the right, and the pain intensified. When I glanced to the left, the pain was soothed.

There was a man sitting there. There was a man sitting there, a man with grey hair, dressed in a white coat. I saw the clipboard, and understood; he was a doctor.

"Hello, Isabella," he said. I was too tired to tell him to call me Bella. "My name is Dr. Gerandy. I'm here to see if you remembered how you got stabbed. In the left shoulder? I am sorry, we just need to see if you have suffered any memory loss."

"I was practicing," I said in confusion. "Why would I have memory loss?"

"You hit your head when you collapsed," he explained. "Dr. Black, downstairs, will examine you further. If you will please follow me, I will guide you to the Washington State Hospital Rehabilitation Ward."

I followed the elderly doctor through a maze of hallways, rooms filled with patients, and groups of nurses. Eventually, we found our way through some elevators, and arrived on the ground floor of the hospital.

"Doctor Black?" Dr. Gerandy called. Another doctor walked over- this one looked to be ancient, old enough to have a grandchild my age. "Isabella Swan is here. I'll leave her in your hands."

As I silently followed the newer, and older, doctor, I caught site of a small, delicate girl, walking across the floor with the lithe, graceful steps of a dancer. She was immediately attracted to the girl. Luckily, she already new she was gay; this would be terribly confusing, otherwise.

"Who's that?" I asked Dr. Black, pointing at the girl.

"That's Mary Alice Brandon," he replied. "Everybody calls her Alice, however."

"Why is she here?"

"I don't know," he chuckled. "You'll have to ask Dr. Cullen; he's the one who keeps her here"

Mary Alice Brandon. Alice. That was a pretty name. I started to walk over to her.

"Where are you going?" Dr. Black asked, plucking at my sleeve. "You have to follow me."

I trotted along behind him, noticing the strange muted sounds everyone made. Few people looked at me- only a gorgeous blonde (I immediately felt myself get smaller when I saw her, she was that pretty.) Mary Alice Brandon looked at me, too. Other random, not-really-noticeable people looked at me, but I didn't notice them. Most were guys, anyway.

"So where are we going?" I asked. "Off to see the gorgeous young hunk of a doctor?" I laughed, then winced and rubbed my head. I felt pretty foolish for having said that, now. I thought my head was fine, but obviously not.

"Yes," he replied dryly. "His name is Doctor Cullen. I told you he was here just a little earlier. You will have to speak to him about young Mary."

Well, that settled it. He was the doctor I was going to talk to.

A small door, on the furthest right-hand side, had CULLEN written on it in bright gold leaf. I looked at it nervously, unconsciously biting my lip. How was I going to ask him about the small girl? _Oh, hi, Doctor Cullen. I couldn't help but notice that you have a pretty girl out there. What's her name?_ Yes, that would go down well.

"Isabella Swan?" The man did look hot, I supposed, but it was hard to tell. They all looked the same to me. "Please follow me into my office."

Doctor Black left unobtrusively. I heard the door click behind him, effectively locking me in with the doctor.

"I see that you noticed young Alice,"he noted. My jaw dropped open.

"How- How did you know that?" I stuttered.

"Not much gets past me here, Isabella," he said gently. "Especially not when you consider all the cameras and microphones I have had installed here. Now, you noticed her?"

"Yes," I admitted. "She's very good-looking, isn't she?"

"She was born like that," he said, smiling softly at me. "I have the one baby picture we have of her. We found it with her when she was left on the hospital doorstep."

"Why is she here?" I asked curiously, waiting anxiously to hear his answer. What if she had tried to commit suicide, or something like that? I couldn't handle another death in my life.

"Alice is a unique case," he frowned. "She was found with- well, if she decides to talk to you, she will tell you her story herself. And we are not here to talk about Alice. Do you know why you are here?"

"I was stabbed in my shoulder, playing sport," I said, my thoughts still whirling around with the little girl. "And I fell and hit my head. Collapsed, I supposed." I was briefly distracted as I considered which word would be better. "Collapsed, definitely."

"Isabella," he frowned. "When you were brought in, we took blood tests."

No. "Is that supposed to worry me?" I asked, keeping any traces of worry, anxiety or sarcasm out of my voice.

"Is your father aware that you take ecstasy?" he asked, staring into my eyes.

"I don't talk to my father," I answered. "My father wouldn't know if I took ten drugs and danced around a lamp-pole naked."

"Danced around...?" He sounded briefly weirded out. "Well, I am prepared to keep this knowledge from your father. Only," his voice grew louder, overriding my thanks, "because you will promise me that you will go to our therapy treatments."

"If it will keep you from telling my father, I'll take it," I grumbled. "Do you really want me to stay here?"

"Hold on a minute, Miss Isabella." His voice sounded amused. "Are you really in that much of a rush to see Alice?" He affected not to notice my blush. "We still have to check you over for signs of head trauma."

He performed various tests on me; giving me simple maths questions, questioning me on my past, looking into my eyes with a strange torch thingy. Eventually, I grew fed up with his tests.

"I'm fine!" I snapped.

"Dear, dear," Doctor Carlisle said, shaking his head ruefully. "You do have a bit of a temper, don't you, Isabella?"

I flushed. "Can I go now?" I asked, my hand already on the doorknob.

"A short temper and little patience," he said, amusement evident in his voice. "Really, I'm not sure if I should let you near Alice."

"Why do you keep threatening me with that?" I asked, annoyed.

"Well, your affection for my young ward is fairly evident," he chuckled. I blushed, which made him laugh even harder. "Don't worry," he gasped, holding his sides as he looked at my face. He was literally on the ground, gasping for breath. "I took a course in body language. Nobody else will have noticed."

"Good," I grumbled, annoyed. Hopefully, he was finished with his tests now. I opened the door, stumbling into a room that was now loud again. I saw Mary and her blonde, supermodel friend sitting at a table. Alice was eating an apple.

I walked over to them, hesitating when I got near them. My feet wouldn't move. But when I turned to walk away, my left shoulder twinged again, and hurt more the more I turned. When I turned back to them, the pain subsided. With no other course left, I walked over to them.

"Hi," I said, flushing as they looked at me.

"Hey," the blonde girl said, looking at me. "I'm Rosalie. What's your name?"

"I'm Isabella Swan," I answered. The words slowed as I neared the end of my sentence. Juice was dribbling down Alice's chin. I trembled, somehow forcing myself not to reach over and lick it off.

One of Alice's hand freed itself from the apple, reaching down. Her hand moved a lot for a few seconds. She took another bite from her apple and pushed a piece of paper towards me with her free hand.

_Hello_, it read, in a long, flowing hand. It looked like calligraphy. _My name is Mary Alice Brandon. Call me Alice. Your name is Isabella. Why are you here?_

I had seen much stranger things in my life, so I didn't even blink an eye at her strange method of communication. Although, she was a fast writer. All that in calligraphy, in just seconds? I studied them closer.

Alice had very pale skin, making the thin stream of juice left my the apple even more noticeable. Rosalie had a more tanned skin, but it still wasn't exactly black, more a darker white. Both had dark bags under their eyes. Rosalie had green eyes, Alice blue.

"I had an accident," I replied. "I still have full use of my arm, but Doctor Cullen still wants me to stay here for a while."

"Do you still get to go home?" Rosalie asked, curiosity shining through her face.

"Nobody said I couldn't," I said carefully. "Why, can't you two go home?"

"I can," Rosalie answered, glancing at Alice.

Alice's hand was busy again. She pushed another piece of paper towards me, taking the last chunk of apple in her mouth and chewing it. I read the note.

_I don't have a home. I can go with Rose._

I looked up at her, in time to see her take a bite of the apple core. I watched as she chewed it, listening to the crunching sound it made. And just like that, I was ravenous.

Alice noticed me looking around wildly. With one of her fingers, she turned her plate and pushed an orange towards me. I smiled tentatively and took it, peeling off the skin as I considered what I could say to that.

My shoulder twinged, making sharp pains seem to point me left. I turned that direction, and saw a girl with a face that looked like a horse heading towards us.

"Hey, ugly and Dumbo," she called towards the table I was sitting at. "Who's your new friend? She looks a bit funny-"

I stood up, turning to face her. She swallowed as I clenched my fist, drawing her attention to the layer of muscle I had recently developed.. Fencing did have its uses; holding that thin sword for hours on end, constantly moving, was enough to give even me some muscles.

"Do you really want to continue that sentence?" I asked, tensing my arms. My muscles weren't huge, but they certainly weren't small, and they gave me one hell of a right hook.

She shook her head violently. "Good," I said pleasantly. "Because the next time you would have, you would have to come back here for a week to relearn how to breathe through you nose."

My not-so-subtle threat got through to her. She nodded her head dumbly and stumbled away.

There was a note on the table when I turned back around. Alice was nonchalantly taking a bite of her watermelon slices. I spun the orange around, not really hungry anymore. My right hand traced the scar the girl had been talking about. It wasn't really that noticeable; it was nearly healed. But it was huge, stretching from my right temple down to my right arm.

_How did you get that scar?_ The note read.

"Car accident," I grunted. Not my favourite topic. "A piece of the steering wheel hit me."

As Alice reached down again, a boy walked over, holding his hand outstretched. "Hi," he said. His cocky attitude annoyed me. "I'm Mike Newton, an 18- year old boy, interested in girls. Now that that's out of the way, wanna come get some lunch with me?"

"Hi," I said, reaching for his hand. Rosalie and Alice stared at me with an unfathomable expression. "I'm Isabella Swan, 17-year-old girl, interested in girls. I do not want to get lunch with you." My hand tightened on his, causing him to moan in pain.

"Now get lost," I hissed. "And tell your friends that I'm not interested."

Rosalie was staring at the ground. "What?" I snapped. "Bothered by the fact I'm gay?"

"No," she said, looking at me. "Just wondering why you chose to sit with us."

"Afraid I'll hit on you?" I snorted.

"That's not it at all," she said,looking at me with one eyebrow quirked. "I'd find it flattering if you did, actually. Don't get too many girls doing that. No, I'm just wondering- why would you sit with us when you have all this choice?"

"'Cause I felt like it," I snapped, hurt. "You want me to leave?" I started to stand, only to be caught by something. Alice was half-standing over the table, her hand placed on my arm. Her fingers were warm against my skin. She shook her head silently. _Don't go._

"Leave me alone," I muttered. I stood, walking away aimlessly.

After a minute or two, I became aware that someone was following me. Irritated, I turned and saw Alice and Rosalie trailing me.

"Sorry," Rosalie sneered, looking past me. "Alice wanted to follow."

Wondering if she was sneering at me, I turned, and realized what she was sneering at. Horse-Face, from before, was staring at us.

"Shove off," I snarled under my breath.

Alice looked at me. I saw the compassion her eyes.

"Sorry," I muttered eventually, unable to stand what I saw in her eyes. "I-I think I hear my dad calling me." And I turned away, leaving them rooted in the hallway.

Of course, my reliable old Volvo wasn't waiting for me. I remembered-

_My horn blared, trying to make the other driver aware that I was there. Easing gently down on the brake, I hoped to hell he wouldn't crash._

_But, of course, he did. I gently turned the steering wheel to the left, aware of the wet road. His horn honked, out of control as he slammed into the right side of my car. The steering wheel shattered, a fragment cutting me from my temple to my elbow. The other shards pierced my body, causing me to bleed in ten different places._

_I lay. Bleeding, hanging limply out of my door. The other driver hopped out, running over to me. "Oh, man," he moaned. "Please stay awake, don't die-"_

I forced the memories out of my head.

Shaking my head, trying to clear it, I shoved my hands in my pockets. I was surprised to feel a piece of paper in there. I pulled it out, recognizing at once the stylish handwriting. It had one word, and less than ten numbers. I couldn't be bothered counting. Rosalie's name, and her phone number. Laughing wryly, I remembered that Alice had said she stayed at Rosalie's house.

I walked home, the rain plastering my hair to my head. I sighed gently as I walked the thirty-minute walk, hoping I wouldn't catch pneumonia.

When I got home, the first thing I did was change and make myself a cup of tea. Then I went to the phone, and punched in the numbers on the piece of paper.

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	2. Seventeen Missed Calls

**And here's the second chapter in my series! Read and review, please- Reviews make me happy... This chapter will be told from Bella's POV. **

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The phone was picked up on the third ring. "Is this Isabella?" Rosalie's voice issued from the phone. "Please say it is."

"Call me Bella," I said after a pause. I heard her sigh in relief, then there was some fidgeting.

"So why did you call?" Rosalie asked eventually. "Was it just to say hi?"

"For purely social reasons," I said, my left hand making small circles in my lap. "So, I assume you got home alright?"

"Sure did," she replied smoothly. "What took you so long to call?"

"I only just got home," I replied, frowning. "Why, did you assume I wouldn't call?"

"No," she said, her voice sounding surprised. "Doctor Cullen told us that your house is only five minutes drive away from here. We were just wondering why you took half an hour to call us."

I noticed the word 'we', and assumed that Alice was with her. "For your information," I said coldly, "I have only been home for five minutes. It may only be a five minute drive, but it takes half an hour to walk here."

"You walked for thirty minutes in the rain?" Rosalie's voice had gone panicky. "Why the- wait, Alice is writing something." There was a pause of about five seconds. "She wants to know why your Dad didn't pick you up."

"Why did you ask Dr. Cullen about me?" I asked irritably, avoiding the question.

"We wanted to know more about you," Rosalie said, sounding taken aback. "You're the first person who has actually stayed to talk to us, once they saw how Alice talked."

"I've seen stranger ways of talking," I said, shrugging. Then I remembered I was o the phone. "And I shrugged there. So what do you know about me?"

"He wouldn't tell us much." She sounded annoyed. I didn't blame her. "He just said that you might call soon, because you only live five minutes away. Why didn't you ask me for a lift?"

"I was annoyed with you two at the time, remember?" I asked sarcastically. "I wouldn't have asked you for the time of day."

"Nice," she snorted. "Oh, Alice is writing again."

I waited.

"She says, why were you annoyed with us?" Rosalie informed me.

"Everyone else seems to be prejudiced against gays," I shrugged. "I didn't see how you two couldn't- hey, wait! Do you have me on speaker phone?"

"Of course," Rosalie said dismissively. "How else could Alice hear? Now, why would we be prejudiced against you? We don't even know you."

"But that's exactly why," I protested. "Everybody else I've talked to always assumes that I'm just there to hit on them?"

"And were you?" Rosalie didn't sound very curious about that. "You didn't seem like you were hitting on us. And the way you sent Jessica and Erik packing- that was awesome!"

"Really?" Now I was blushing. "They just annoyed me."

"Isabella!" That was my father, Charlie. "Where are you, girl?"

"I gotta go," I muttered into the phone. "See you tomorrow, Rosalie, Alice." And I hung up on them.

"Where were you all day, Isabella?" he asked gently, actually sounding as if he cared.

"I was in hospital, Dad," I reminded him. "I was stabbed, remember?"

"Oh yeah," he said sheepishly, rubbing his head. "Well, do you need to go back?"

"Yes, Dad," I replied wearily, already sick of talking to him. "I have to go back every day, for rehab."

"Okay, Isabella," he finished. "You do that." And he walked back out, going to watch sports on his T.V.

Not even a 'how long will you be in there, Bella?" from my father. He didn't care what I did all day.

I started shaking. I climbed up to my bedroom, knowing what was coming next. I had been high, now I was coming crashing down. I locked my door, hoping that Charlie didn't have a key anymore.

The effects of my coming down lasted for hours. Ordinarily, I would have just gone outside and lit another smoke up, keeping me on that high. But now I was in hospital. My thoughts grew gloomy as I considered the prospect of having no ecstasy for weeks.

Somewhere in the middle of my fit, I fell asleep.

I woke up the next day, sunlight streaming through my window onto my face. I groaned and rolled over, making sure that the bed was still beneath me. An hour before going back for rehab for my arm was a stupid time to break it again.

My phone beeped next to me on the nightstand. I picked it up and flipped it open. On the screen was a message; Seventeen Missed Calls.

I opened my missed calls list, and was shocked to see Rosalie's number listed there seventeen times. From the times written next to them, she had tried to call more often than even once an hour!

I brushed my teeth and had a shower, dressing myself in a green shirt and black pants. Brightened by the fact that I couldn't go to school now, I flipped my phone again and dialed Rosalie's number.

She answered on the second ring. "Oh my god, Bella, are you alright, we were so worried, did something happen to you-"

"Rosalie," I said, impressed at how long she could talk without drawing a breath. "I'm fine. I just needed to talk to my father, then I fell asleep."

"Oh, thank god," she said breathlessly. "Wait-"

I waited. It didn't take long for her to talk again.

"Alice wants to know what your father wanted," she said apologetically.

"He just wanted to know where I was," I shrugged. "Apparently, he missed me sometime."

"That's horrible!" she exclaimed. "Didn't he have to pay for your hospital bill?"

"No," I shrugged. "My insurance money paid for it." It sure did, but not my health insurance. The insurance money I had gotten for my old car.

"Oh." Her voice went thoughtful. "You are coming in again today, aren't you?"

"I have to."I was grumpy again now. "I should be there before you, even."

She laughed. "Impossible."

"Are you there already?" I asked, confused. "Why do you go there, anyway?"

"Oh, I don't go here for any particular reason," she shrugged. "Originally I came here because I busted my left knee. But now, I just come here to talk with Alice."

"That's sweet," I frowned. "But don't you have school to go to?"

"I failed school," she laughed. "I skipped most of my classes, coming here to see Alice. So I just dropped out."

I was scowling now. "Why do you see her much?" I asked.

There was a pause, and Rosalie laughed. "Alice says you sound jealous," she explained.

"Alice can't say anything," I pointed out.

"Point," she allowed. "She wrote it. Happy? Anyway, we're already there, so you can't beat us here."

"Fuck," I swore.

"Alice says, don't swear." I could just imagine the trouble she was having keeping a straight face as she said that.

"I'll be there in half an hour," I told her snappily, my hand travelling to the call Disconnect button.

"Wait!" Rosalie sounded panicky again. "Do you want us to give you a lift?" I hesitated, tempted. Then I felt the soreness of my legs, and decided. "Alright," I said.

I waited at the corner of my street until a glossy red convertible came to a stop next to me. I glanced at it, and was surprised to see Rosalie sitting in the drivers' seat, with Alice sitting in the back.

"Hi," I said, frowning again. "You didn't steal this, did you?"

"No," Rosalie said, grinning sweetly at me. "My parents bought it for me."

"Nice of them," I scowled. "My parents never buy me anything."

"Come live with me then," she offered. Then, apparently realizing what she was saying, she blushed and changed the subject.

I heard Alice shift behind me. I looked in the rearview mirror, only to be surprised when I saw Alice glaring at Rosalie.

Uncomfortable, I looked back to the front, and saw that we were drifting aimlessly around the hospital, looking for a parking space. I saw several go past, all on my side, but Rosalie wasn't looking there.

Eventually, Rosalie saw a parking space on her side, and parked in it. We all filed out of the car, taking car not to scratch the cars parked on either side.

I pulled my iPod out of my bag, switching it on. The song 'Won't Go Home Without You' drifted through. I smiled as the familiar words washed over me.

_I asked her to stay,_

But she wouldn't listen.

She left before I had a chance to say,

Oh, where do we mend,

The things that were broken.

But now it's far too late, she's gone away.

Every night you cry yourself to sleep,

Thinking, why does this happen to me?

Why does every moment have to be so hard?

Hard to believe that,

It's not over tonight,

Just give me one more chance to make it right!

I may not make it through the night!

I won't go home without you.

The taste of her breath,

I'll never get over,

The noises that she made kept me awake.

Oh, the weight of things

That remained unspoken

Built up so much it crushed us ever day.

Every night, you cry yourself to sleep,

Thinking, why does this happen to me?

Why does every moment have to be so hard?

Hard to believe that,

It's not over tonight.

Just give me one more chance to make it right!

I may not make it through the night!

I won't go home without you!

Oh, it's not over tonight,

Just give me one more chance to make it right!

I may not make it through the night!

I won't go home without you!

Oh, the things I felt, but never really showed!

Perhaps the worst is that,

I'm able to let you go!

Should not ever let you go!

It's not over tonight,

Just give me one more chance to make it right!

I may not make it through the night!

I won't go home without you!

Oh, it's not over tonight!

Just give me one more chance to make it right!

I may not make it through the night!

I won't go home without you!

And I won't go home without you!

And I won't go home without you!

And I won't go home without you!

As the last line of the song faded, a familiar wave of melancholy grew over me. The song got one thing right; the worst thing was that I was able to let her go- no, I couldn't think of that.

I distracted myself from my melancholy, searching for Rosalie. She was just to my right.

"Where are you going?" I asked plaintively.

"Your rehab isn't for another half an hour," Rosalie threw back. "We're going to Alice's room. Better place to talk than the lunchroom."

When we walked in, a new wave of pain hit me, as I looked around at the nearly empty room. There was a bed, a table next to the bed, and some equipment set up next to the bed. On the table was two pictures; one of her and Doctor Cullen, unsmiling, as they posed in front of a table filled with party food. The other was one of her and Rosalie, smiling at a park.

Not that my room was much better. I also had a phone charger, and a couple more pictures hung up on my wall. But at least my room had some colour to it, and a wardrobe. Looking at Alice, I saw she was wearing the same white clothing as yesterday, although without an apple juice stain today. The same sort of clothes you would wear if you made them out of hospital gowns.

"This is her room," Rosalie said, gesturing. "It's a bit empty at the moment. She'll put some more stuff in it soon enough, I'm sure."

Alice handed us a note. _It's fairly empty, but I have nothing to put in it. I'm only allowed to leave with Rose. _She smiled fondly at the supermodel-girl.

"She has a couple more things at my house," Rosalie whispered loudly to me. "But she won't let me buy clothes for her."

Alice just ignored me. She sat on her bed and pulled the table closer to her. I watched, entranced, as she pulled out a lead pencil and started drawing a picture.

The first detail I could see was the outline of a face. It was too long to be mine, so I supposed it to be Rosalie's.

I sat down next to her. She didn't look up, but just kept drawing.

For the next hour, I watched as she flew the pencil over and over the piece of paper, adding more detail every time. It grew more and more realistic, eventually morphing into a black-and-white portrait of the blonde girl.

I jumped when something touched my arm. Rosalie was leaning forwards, lightly touching my arm. "Time for your session with Carlisle," she said.

The look I gave her must have looked confused. "Doctor Cullen," she explained further.

"So Alice likes drawing," I stated as we walked out.

"Yes," she drawled. "Alice likes to draw, and I like to sculpt. Plaster, clay, even mud. I can do it all. What do you do, Bella?"

"I can write poetry," I confessed. "I'm not very good at it, but."

"You'll have to show me sometime," she smiled. "I'll show you some sculptures."

"What was Alice drawing?" I asked. "It looked like you, but there was so much space around it- there must be something she's planning to put around it."

"I don't know," Rosalie said, rolling her eyes. "Have a look when we get back from you session."

"We?" I asked, startled by her statement. "I didn't know you were supposed to be there!"

"Of course I am," Rosalie replied indignantly. "I have to be there. Carlisle said so."

"Let's go," I surrendered.

I followed her back to Doctor Cullens' office. He was sitting in a chair there, facing her.

"Isabella," he said, nodding at me. "How far are you able to raise your arm?"

About ninety degrees," I said, lifting it to show him. "But I can't close my fist at all."

"Oh," he murmured, probing at my delicate skin with his long fingers. "That's not good."

We spent an hour in there, constantly trying to clench my fist. The only result was that my arm became stiff and sore. I had made no progress at all.

At the end of the session, I stood to go. Doctor Cullen caught my arm. "Surely you remember our deal," he said softly. "Your fist session is tomorrow. Be there."

"What session is that?" Rosalie asked him curiously.

I shook my head furiously at me. He ignored me. "Bella is going to a drug treatment group," he said.

Rosalie looked at me incredulously. I strode out of the room, only to fall flat on my face as my feet caught on the floor. Blushing furiously, I stood up again.

She held my arm as we walked back to Alice's room. When we got there, I shook it off, realizing that I didn't need her help right now.

Alice was still drawing when I walked back in. I looked at what she had done so far. There were three recognizable things in the picture; Rosalie, herself, and me.

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**I realize that at this point it may seem more like a Bella/Rosalie fic. There is a reason for this, I promise. It will turn out to be an Alice/Bella fic- unless you people say you want a threesome. Say the word, and it'll happen. (ducks his face, embarrassed).**

**Lire et de l'examen. Or, as we say it, Read and Review.  
**


	3. Pictures

**My shortest chapter so far, only 2000 words. I have a reason for this. My reason is at the bottom.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, and I never will. I will not keep posting this on every chapter. Unless I explicitly state that I now own Twilight, you can just assume that I don't, okay?**

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Alice hung the picture up on a wall. The three of us gathered around, one of Rosalie's arms slung around each of us, just like in the picture.

"That's an awesome picture, Alice," Rosalie said, looking at it. "It only took you two hours to draw it?"

_It would have taken me longer, but I didn't colour it in._

Alice's means of communication now seemed almost as normal to me as talking, although it did take longer. I looked at it, and had to agree that it would have taken longer if she had coloured it in.

"It's perfect just the way it is," Rosalie disagreed. I just liked the way it put more colour in the room, even if the colour was black.

My stomach rumbled. I clutched at it, hoping they wouldn't hear. But of course, Rosalie did.

"Let's go eat," she suggested. I followed willingly enough, only to be stopped when I felt Alice's hand on my arm.

"Yes?" I asked uncertainly.

_Did you like the picture?_

"It's an awesome picture, Alice," I encouraged her. "It's very detailed. You could sell your paintings for a lot of money."

She blushed, ducking her head. Her hand was writing on a piece of paper. I watched, mesmerized, as her dainty hand slipped along the paper, writing at an incredible speed.

_Do you really think so?_

"I do, Alice," I said, looking in her eyes. "Your pictures are better than some I've seen. If you want, I can arrange for some people to come over, and order some off you."

_You would do that for me?_

I noticed the way her hand was shaking, but it didn't affect her writing at all. She would have a very steady hand. "Of course I would, Alice," I said, forcing cheeriness into my voice. "Do you want me to?"

_No thank you. I can have Rosalie rustle up some customers, but I would prefer them to come to me._

"That's a good idea, Alice," I agreed. "Very smart. That way, you'll be able to attract them on your own again."

She grinned at me. And, of course, Rosalie spoiled the moment by showing her head around the corner.

"Are you two coming to get some food?" she asked, disappearing again.

I turned my iPod on again as we walked to the cafeteria, not really listening to the music. I just needed something that would stop people from talking to me.

Rosalie led me to a bench filled with food. Today, I was allowed to choose from it. Rosalie took a bun, some slices of chicken and some cheese. Alice loaded her tray up with fruit again. I compromised, taking a bun, an apple and an orange.

We walked back to the same table we had sat at yesterday. I sat across from Alice, studying her as we ate.

Today, she hadn't gotten an apple. She had two nectarines, a peach, the same two slices of watermelon as yesterday, and a banana. She ate a slice of the watermelon first. I absently took a bite of my apple as I watched her teeth slice into the watermelon.

"Bella?" Rosalie's voice cut into my concentration. Irritated, I looked at her. "What?" I snapped.

"Do you want to come over my house this afternoon?" she asked hopefully.

Alice pushed a piece of paper across as I thought about this. Where did she keep her notepad?

_I have to stay here today. Doctor Carlisle is going to perform some more tests on me._

"Here's the thing, Rosalie," I said, sick of talking. "My father really doesn't like me to go anywhere. I'm lucky he was okay with me going to hospital."

"Come on, Bella," she complained. "You've gotta come with me. I'll find something fun for you to do, I promise!"

I hesitated, looking at Alice. She shook her head fractionally. Don't do it.

"I have to do an assignment for school anyway," I fibbed. "World History is a touchy subject for me. It's nearly finished; it'll just take a few hours to go over it, put it all together, stuff like that."

"Okay," she agreed glumly. "How about tomorrow?"

This girl didn't give up easily. I looked towards Alice again. This time she nodded her head a little. Don't disappoint her.

"Sure," I agreed pleasantly. "As long as my father says I can."

"He'd better," she said, frowning slightly. "I like to spend time with you, Bella."

I smiled weakly. This girl had known me for only two days, and I was already invited over to her house!

"Hmmm," Rosalie murmured. "I'll be back in a few minutes. I've got to get myself some more sandwiches. I'll be back in ten." She got up and swept away.

I leaned forwards, resting my head on my palms. "Spill," I said, looking at Alice. "Why don't you want me to go with Rosalie tomorrow?"

_I don't really have any tests to do tomorrow, either. You are going to spend the day with me._

"Why, Alice?" I said urgently. "We could have hung out with Rosalie all day, you know that!"

_I need a break from her. We can go shopping, if you'd like._

"God, no!" I practically shouted, trying to climb backwards over my chair. "I'll do anything, just don't make me go shopping!"

She grinned devilishly. _Anything? I may just hold you to that._

Horror swept through me. "I've gotta go," I babbled. "I gotta go to the drug treatment group, I just gotta go-"

I stumbled away, tripping over several chairs as I went. God, what the hell was she planning to do with me tomorrow?

It was only when I got to the door that I realized I had no idea where to go. Blushing furiously, I turned to go see Doctor Cullen, only to trip over my feet. Several people laughed at seeing this.

I rehearsed what I was going to say as I walked to his office. I had it down as I walked in.

"Ah, Isabella Swan," he said, sounding vaguely amused. "I assume you mean to skip today's treatment group?"

"No," I frowned. "I just don't know where it is."

"It's right next door," he said, amusement even more evident in his tone. "Do you want me to walk you to it?"

"No- just point to it."

He gestured to the right of the main door. Without bothering to say goodbye, I turned and left.

I could feel Alice's eyes on me as I walked down the lunchroom. I quickened my pace, hurrying to the exit.

The door was immediately to the right of the double doors that led into the lunchroom. I went to pull my hand away from the doorknob, but my left shoulder twinged. I opened it, and the pain subsided.

There were twenty or so people, all sitting in a circle. One was at least fifteen years older than the others.

"Hello," he greeted pleasantly. "Who are you? Are you her for the drug rehabilitation program?"

"Yes," I said. "My name is Isabella Swan."

"And my name is Jackson Carver," he said, extending his hand out to me. I stared at it until he put it down.

"Well," he said, his pleasant manner crumbling a bit. "Take a seat. Erik here is also new here."

I looked at the new boy. He looked a lot like the kid Mike Newton, from the cafeteria.

"Would you introduce yourself, please?" Jackson asked him.

"Sure," he grunted. "I'm Erik. I'm nineteen years old, and I have a girlfriend. I got on drugs when my sister committed suicide."

"Good, good," murmured Jackson. "And you, Isabella?"

"Everyone calls me Bella," I said, winking at them. "I'm a 17-year-old girl. I'm gay. I got onto drugs when my girlfriend hurt me, and left." I sat back down, trying not to remember Sarah.

"Damn," muttered Erik. "But mine's still sadder."

"That was why I got on drugs," I snapped. "Not why I stayed on them."

As I said this, I caught a glimpse of spiky hair around the doorway. "Fuck," I swore. "I've gotta go- there's someone out there I gotta talk to."

"Who is it?" Erik shouted after me.

I cornered Alice outside the classroom. "What are you doing here?" I snarled.

_I wanted to show you a picture I _drew. She drew a piece of paper out of her bag. It was an envelope, with the words, 'Open this when I'm not around' written on it.

Curious, I looked at her. She blushed and wouldn't meet my eyes.

"You should go," I whispered hoarsely. "I'll see you later."

I didn't look at her again until I was in the room. When I looked up, she was still there. I looked at her and lifted the envelope, making a small hole in one corner. She looked terrified, and ran.

Even more curious now, I tore it open even more. There was a picture of me inside. It had a border running around it, my name repeating all around it. Bella Bella Bella Bella. I blushed as I ran my eyes over it, seeing the attention to detail she had. When had she drawn this?

"Can I see that?" Erik asked, holding his hand out. I handed it to him.

"Wow," he said, passing it back. "You look really pretty in this picture.

"Thanks," I blushed.

"Today, we will attempt to learn what it is that drives people to take drugs." Jackson's voice droned on in the background. I tuned him out, daydreaming about Alice.

Eventually, after ninety torturous minutes, I escaped the room alive, only to find Doctor Cullen waiting for me. "How did you find your class?" he asked gently.

"Fine, fine," I stammered. "Do you know where Alice is?"

"She's in her room," he frowned. "By herself, for once. Apparently, she and Rosalie had an argument, and Rosalie went home."

"I'd better go talk to her then," I said. "Excuse me." And with that, I went off to look for Alice.

I found her sobbing soundlessly on her bead, tears soaking the bed.

"Alice," I said tentatively. "Can I come in?"

She lifted her tear stained face to look at me, and nodded, wiping her eyes.

"What did you two fight about?" I asked, drawing her into my arms.

Her hands moved on a piece of paper, writing something. _You._

"Me?" I asked, startled. "Why me?"

_Rosalie wants you all to herself. But that's not fair, she's got other friends, and I don't._

"Don't worry, Alice," I murmured in her ear. "I'm your friend. So, do you want to go shopping tomorrow?"

_Sure. Pick you up at ten?_

"Bring your money," I whispered, enfolding her in my arms. I kissed her forehead before sanding up, walking away.

I din't see what she wrote as I left. _I love you, Bella._

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**Okay, people. Question time.**

**At nine o'clock tomorrow, I am going to check my reviews and PM's again, giving you nine hours. There should be at least a few in there, answering this question.**

**Do you think that this story should be purely an Alice/Bella story, or a threesome with Alice/Bella/Rosalie? Seriously, folks. I need your feedback. The threesome story could be longer, but the Alice/Bella story is a popular theme. Tell me what you think I should do!**

**Lesen und überprüfen! Or, as the English say, read and review! 'Cause Reviews make me happy... And you don't want me to go depressed and kill myself, do ya's? I'm close as it is...  
**


	4. First Kiss, Wrong Person

**Lol, I logged in after nine hours this morning, and had over twenty new reviews...**

**Well, I decided on a course that will possibly please both the fans of a threesome and plain Alice/Bella. Thank you to certain people on here, who decided to give me the idea to this :P You don't know who you are.**

**Hope you like it!**

* * *

Damn, I hated shopping. Unfortunately, I knew Alice liked shopping, and this trip was only here to cheer her up. So I squared my shoulders, prepared to take it like a man. Even though I was a woman.

My alarm beeped. Ten o'clock. I slowly walked downstairs, dressed in my favourite casual clothes. I could already feel sweat on my forehead, as I awaited my father's angry explosion when he saw Alice.

The minutes stretched out as I waited for Alice to arrive. The minute hand slowly snaked its way down, leaving me irritated when it passed the fifteen minute mark.

At last, seventeen minutes after ten, I heard a knock on the door. I rushed to answer it, hoping that it was Alice, and not a Jehovah's Witness, or something.

Indeed, it was the girl who featured prominently in my dreams standing on the doorstep.

"Who is it, Bella?" Charlie's voice rang out from the living room. He must be watching a damn game again.

"Just a friend, Dad," I called.

"You wait right there, Bella," Charlie said, waddling over to where me and Alice stood. I could smell the beer and bacon on his breath, even at ten in the morning.

"Who's this?" he grunted, disapproval heavy in his voice. "Is this another girlfriend?"

Pain ripped through me at his words. "No, Dad," I said through clenched teeth. "This is Alice. She's just a friend, as I said before.

"Hello, Alice," Charlie said, sneering at her. "What's your last name, honey?"

Temper and jealousy ran through me, as I heard the sounds of flirting that I knew so well come from him.

Her hand moved automatically down to her notebook. _Brandon_, she wrote.

"Say it for me, sweetie," he suggested, leaning close to her.

"She can't, Dad," I interjected, pulling her arm through mine. "She's a mute. And she doesn't need you reminding her of that."

Alice pouted at that. _That was mean, Bella._

"I don't care," I said. "Let's go, Alice." And we walked out, right in front of my father's fuming face.

_That wasn't very nice._

"He was hitting on you, Alice," I said, glaring back through the door at him. He wouldn't be able to see me, of course, but the effect was still the same. It showed how little I cared about him. I had stolen his keys, too, so we drove his car. There was no way he could follow us now.

We drove to a small retailer's shop first. I remembered everything I knew about Alice and clothes so far; how she refused to let Rosalie buy her clothes, how the clothes she usually wore looked like they had been made from hospital clothes. From there, it was easy to put two and three together.

"We're here," I announced. "How much money do you have, Alice?"

_Not much. I have a couple hundred dollars, that Carlisle sometimes pays me, for helping with his patients._

"Well, it's lucky that I brought along some of my own," I grinned. When I saw her already-familiar signs of protest, when she lifted her head slightly and narrowed her eyes, I placed my fingers on her lips. She shuddered, and her hands stilled from where they had been reaching for her notebook.

I needed some way for her to take my offering. "How's about this," I mused. "I pay for some of your fabric, and you make me some clothes." Inwardly, I cringed at the though of the sort of clothes she would make me. They would all be made into styles that didn't suit me, I just knew it.

_Exactly how much did you bring, Bella?_

She wrote that in two seconds flat. I was overwhelmed by her writing speed.

"A couple thousand," I admitted. "Maybe four."

_Where did you get that much?_

"My mum, Renee, died when I was a kid," I said quietly. "She was a famous yoga instructor. She left me a couple hundred thousand dollars when I was a kid. This is the interest on that."

She looked at me in awe. I brushed off her silent compliments and walked inside, dragging her with me.

When I saw the price tags on the material, I was glad I had brought the extra five grand. Alice's money might have bought enough material to make two sets of clothes for herself. With my money, she could make herself several sets- out of stuff better than polyester, too.

Being the spendthrift I was, we bought several metres of several different colour materials; all sleek, shiny materials, that reminded me of silk, but were too cheap to be silk. Greens, reds, blues, yellows, blacks, whites, she even bought a purple one. With all the needles, threads and so forth she bought, she would have enough there to make an entire wardrobe of stuff.

Eventually, after what seemed like hours, but was probably only one hour, we made it out alive. I was all set to pack up and drive home, but she whipped out her notebook.

_Thank you for this, Bella. I have several outfits in mind for you already._

"I only said that so you'd accept my money," I informed her. "I really don't want any."

She pouted, looking adorable as she stuck out her lower lip. We drove in silence for the car trip- mostly because one of us couldn't talk, and I didn't want to chatter inanely to myself.

We made it to the hospital in one piece, ladened down with bundles of material. It took us twice as long as normal to stagger to her room, weighed down with so many packages.

Immediately, she set to work. I watched in amazement as she deftly pulled out a black marker and used it to draw heavy black patterns on the silk. The curvy lines entranced me, making me unable to look away until she reached back into the bag, pulling out one of several pairs of scissors she had bought and sliced long rolls of cloth off.

In less time than it took for me to realize what the shape was, she was threading a needle. Her hands were quick and deft. The needle and thread seemed to glide in and out of the fabrics of their own accord, only guided by Alice.

Approximately half an hour after we had walked in, Alice already had two pairs of pants- one green with a wide blue stripe, one red with a long blue stripe- and one button-up shirt, made out of a whitish material, and two pockets, one on either side of the buttons.

"You know," I said as my phone vibrated in my pocket, "You might have a career in clothes designing as well as artistry."

She shook her head, unsmiling, as I read the text.

_Done ur ass. yet?_

My place. 9.

Will txt Al.

Ros.

"You're going to get a text," I murmured to her. She nodded, still concentrating on the fabric. "Rosalie says, her place at ten. I assume she'll pick you up?" She nodded again, too busy to write me a note.

I texted her back.

_Hey Ros,_

Wil be with Al.

See ya then.

Bel

"She knows I'm here now," I murmured. "She'll pick us both up at nine." She didn't even bother to nod at me this time, still cutting, slicing the material to ribbons.

Over the next few hours, she transformed most of the material into clothing. By nine, she had exactly twelve shirts, most button-up but some long-sleeve, and eight shirts and three skirts. Every one had a different pattern and colour style- some clashing colours just to draw attention to the more flattering colours around it. I smiled as she showed off her latest set.

We picked a red-and-black shirt, and a dark blue skirt, to wear to Rosalie's. It didn't bother me that I was still in casual clothes.

Rosalie walked in exactly on time, rather than Alice's seventeen minutes late. I couldn't deny that I was impressed at her timing.

"Come on, you two," she said playfully. Dutifully, we scooped up a lot of scrap material and dumped it in a waste bin.

"Where did you get all of that?" Rosalie asked, indicating Alice's ensemble.

"We went out and bought it," I said, stopping Alice before we could reveal how we'd blown off her plans. "I finished my assignment early, and Alice's tests were canceled, so we went shopping."

"Good, good," she murmured, obviously pleased at something. I couldn't possibly think what.

"So, what are we doing tonight?" I asked, trying to distract her from her train of thought.

"Have you two eaten yet?" When we shook our heads, realizing we hadn't, she looked happy, and smiled at us. "First, I thought we could have dinner- Bert cooked it for us. Then I've got some movies we can watch. After that- sleepover!"

Looking at the dark bruises under both their eyes, I shuddered. Their sleepover surely couldn't start early, or last late. No, we would be lucky to sleep at all.

When Rosalie parked her car next to a huge house, I felt like a fool. Of course Rosalie would be rich; how else could she afford a car like that?

Bert turned out to be one of her chefs. One, because she had four. Four! To support her and her mother! And they had eight maids. I didn't even have one!

"Where did you get the money for this?" I asked her quietly. She looked sad for a second, and turned her head away. I knew that body language well0 I used it often. She had some secret that she didn't want to share.

"I caught the hint," I informed her. "Touchy subject. "I'll shut up."

"Thanks, Bella," she whispered fervently. "You really get me."

"It's a package deal," I replied dryly. She chuckled.

'Dinner' turned out to be another of Alice's things. A fruit obsession. Grapes, oranges, bananas, apples, watermelons, peaches, strawberries.. Every fruit I knew the name of, except tomatoes, and several I hadn't heard of.

"Dear, dear," a middle-aged woman said, walking into the kitchen. Alice was hidden from her by a large watermelon. "Fruit again. I assume Alice is here?"

Alice raised her hand.

"And who is this?" the woman asked, walking over to cup my face. "Well, Rosalie, dear?"

"That's Bella, Mum," Rosalie said, looking at me fondly. "She's my friend."

"Dear dear," the woman- Rosalie's mother- said fondly. "Why don't your pupils dilate properly?"

This woman was observant. Even Charlie hadn't noticed that, and I lived with him. "It's a side-effect of taking drugs," I said unpleasantly. "Most people don't notice it, but it's there in me."

"Drugs," she breathed. "Dear, dear." She pinched me reprovingly, took a peach, and walked off.

For the entire meal, I sat and ate strawberries, watching Alice eat apples, watermelons and other juicy fruits. By the time the meal was finished, she had trickles of juice leading down to the front of her dress.

"Do you eat anything but fruit?" I asked her when we finally left, wiping off one trail of juice with my thumb. She grinned and shook her head. Playfully, I threw a grape at her.

This started an all-out food war, with all of us careful not to get any juice on Alice's new clothes. Of course, I won; ever since I had taken up fencing, my aim if not my balance had improved considerably.

We walked out into the living room, our hands sticky with juice. Rosalie picked up a remote, and I looked around for the TV. I couldn't find it, until she pressed a button and the entire right wall lit up with a picture of some robots, a black man and the word 'I, Robot' in the middle.

I inched closer to Alice on the lounge, and Rosalie inched closer to me. Making what she probably considered to be an unobtrusive move, she gasped and took my hand during one of the action scenes.

Embarrassingly, I found myself in tears by the end of the movie, completely taken I by the robot. I wiped it off, admiring the way it sparkled in the light.

Not letting go of my hand, Rosalie pressed more buttons, and another movie appeared on the dark screen. She and Alice grinned as a picture of a giant robot popped up; I just wondered what was up with them and robots.

I found myself both drifting off and staying alert as the movie drifted on. I fell asleep as the robots turned into cars and drove off sometime during the movie, my head coming to rest uncomfortably on my chest.

An hour later, or maybe less, I found myself moving. Alice had me in her slender grip, and I was surprised to feel she was able to lift me. Rosalie ushered us into a bedroom. I was placed in the middle of the bed, and they climbed in on either side of me. Alice nodded off soon enough, tucked comfortably against me, but Rosalie didn't sleep.

"Bella." Rosalie's soft whisper floated across the room to me. "Are you still awake?"

"Yes," I breathed back.

"Can you help me out with something?" she asked softly.

"Sure," I replied, curious. "What do you want me to do?"

"Just don't freak out," she replied. "Don't even move, or you might wake Alice up."

"What are you-" I was cut off as she placed her hand over my mouth.

"No talking," she whispered, and lowered her head to mine. Our lips met, and I stiffened, but didn't move more than that, aware that Alice was asleep next to me.

She moved her lips insistently, licking my upper lip. I felt her hand slide up my shirt and brush my breast, running up against my bra. She stroked it, making my nipple hard.

Satisfied, she eventually moved back, cradling her head in my neck.

"How was it?" I asked, curious.

"The best ever," she whispered. "Can I do it again?"

"Flattered by her compliment, I said huskily, "Sure."

She kissed me again, more passionate this time. Her hand stayed on mine this time. I could tell the kiss would have gone on for some time, but Alice shifted against me, reminding me she was there. Shit.

"Fuck," I swore. I rose up, lightly leaping out of the bed, leaving a confused Rosalie in my wake.

* * *

**Well, do you like it? Review, and tell me what you think!**

**Here's a serious question, folks. Leave your answer in your review, PM me, I don't care. Do you people think I would have the talent to make writing my career? I've been considering it for a few years now, but I would appreciate feedback from unbiased people. Even flames telling me how much I suck would be appreciated- at least that would be unbiased.**

**Thanks in advance.**

**Прочетох и преглед- or, as the english say it, Read and Review!  
**


	5. Choose, Bella

I splashed cold water on my face, trying to wake myself up even more. I needed my brain at full alert to try and think a way out of this predicament. Water dripped down my face as I clutched the sink, thinking desperately.

All that resulted was that my eyes grew even heavier. That was backwards, I was sure of it.

Briefly, I wondered if my abrupt leaving had woken Alice up.

Alice. The wonderful, mute little pixie, who had been featuring in my dreams lately, replacing Sar-

Not allowed to think about it. Think about something else. Think about... Fencing. When would I ever be able to go back? If I didn't go back soon, I would start to lose the muscles I had acquired.

These and other desperate thoughts flitted around my skull, buzzing like a swarm of angry bees. I found myself wishing longingly for a small pill of ecstasy, just one. Surely it couldn't hurt.

I still couldn't lie convincingly to myself. Maybe if I could, I would have been able to convince myself that Alice wouldn't disapprove, that she would want me to take the easy way out.

Sinking slowly to the ground, clutching my head as hard as I could to stop the thoughts from exploding out of my head. Now that would be a nice present to leave Rosalie. Not an apology and an extraction of a promise to never try that again, but my exploded head, splattered all over her bathroom.

I laughed wryly, cut off by a sob halfway through. Pain rocketed through my head, making me feel even worse than before. God, I needed a high so desperately. If this didn't stop, I was going to have to resort to desperate measures- maybe I could beat my head against a wall until they sedated me.

My head was running in circles now. Tiredly, I dragged my thoughts back to the original problem; trying to find a way out of my current situation.

I could hear Rosalie's voice coming nearer and nearer, occasionally stopping to talk to someone else. The other person never said anything back, so I assumed it was Alice.

"Bella," Rosalie called softly. "Bella, where are you, sweetie?"

They found me hiding in a bathtub, crying wretchedly, nails digging so hard into my head that small rivulets of blood were running down through my fingers, coating my face in trails of dark red.

Alice hurried forwards and pried my fingers away, refusing to let me hurt myself anymore. I watched with a detached interest as she put pressure on my head, trying to stop the bleeding. She had no idea what she was doing.

"Bella, honey," Rosalie said anxiously, hanging back in the doorway. It was an apt enough description, I supposed. Alice always came to the forefront, Rosalie always dragging behind, in my mind at least.

"Leave me alone, Rosalie," I moaned. "Go away."

Alice's shoulders shook with silent laughter. I supposed that she was just glad I was still able to talk, after all the blood I had lost. Looking down, I could see a small puddle beneath me.

"You can stop now, Alice," I whispered. "I can take over from here."

She didn't stop, of course, just put less pressure on my head as she helped me stand up. I winced as I took over putting pressure on my head, wishing I had some anesthetic.

"I'm calling the hospital, Bella," Rosalie said calmly, obviously trying to score points with me. But I was clear and firm in my purpose now; I was not going to kiss her again. I was not going to taste her strawberry lipstick, not going to dream about those warm hands creeping up my shirt.

"No need," I said hoarsely. I had gotten over my aversion to blood years ago, of course. In fencing, when you sometimes took off the button on the end of the sword to duel for real when your teacher wasn't looking, you had to. But there was so much of it here, now.

I flipped open my cellphone and dialed in the number of the local hospital- ironically enough, the one where my drug treatment group was being held. Oh, the irony.

"Doctor Cullen," Doctor Cullen's professional voice issued from the speaker. "What is the nature of your emergency?"

"Carlisle," I said into the phone, my throat hurting as I spoke. I mimed drinking a cup of water. Alice got the message and ran off, looking for a cup. "I held my head too hard, and it's bleeding. There's a puddle of blood underneath me, and there's blood covering my face. I think I've lost too much blood. How soon can an ambulance get here?"

"Slower than my car," he said gruffly. I heard a nurse behind him ask what he was doing, before the phone hung up.

Alice came back, holding a cup full of ice and water. I drank deeply from it, and smiled at her in thanks.

"Thanks, Alice," I said, looking at her gratefully. "Could you get me another one?" I really was thirsty, and I needed to speak to Rosalie in private.

"Trying to get me alone in private, are you, Bella?" Rosalie asked lustily when Alice was gone, sticking her tongue out at me. "Well, I guess I can spare one kiss."

"No," I said harshly. "Kissing you was what got me into this mess in the first place." I gestured at the blood pooled around me. "Leave me alone from now on, Rosalie."

"I know you don't mean that, baby," Rosalie said smokily. "Luckily for you, you're not feeling at your best right now-"

"I'm feeling more alert now than I was last night," I growled. "What happened last night was a mistake. One that I will not allow to repeat itself."

"Are you rejecting me?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes," I affirmed, feeling dizzy from the blood loss. "I am."

"It's Alice, isn't it?" Rosalie guessed keenly. "You have feelings for Alice. Well, two can play at that game."

"What game?" I asked angrily.

"You know, manipulation," she said airily. "I might not act all sweet and innocent, but I'm just as good for you as Alice is."

"You..." I was at a loss for words. There were no words bad enough to describe her. "Leave Alice out of this!"

"So it is her," Rosalie murmured. "Oh, well. She's easily dealt with."

"No," I snarled, feeling eyes start to close. I wasn't sure what I was saying no to, Rosalie's determination to win me or the darkness that was closing around me.

The last thing I heard was the tinkle of a breaking glass, and Doctor Cullen's voice. "Rosalie, catch her!" Then the darkness surrounded me, and I knew I was dying.

Funny. Usually when you hear about someone dying, they say that their life flashed before them. I saw nothing, nothing, and more nothing.

Of course, there were memories in there with me. But I was trying to avoid them. Problem was, I had been this close to dying before. Had, indeed, slipped off the other side of the edge.

Oh, well. Couldn't hurt to confront my fears, as I was dying now. I could feel it. I was already half over that edge. Any more, and I would die completely.

Music started up in my head as I turned to confront my memories. It sounded vaguely like a funeral dirge. Unconsciously, I knew I had slipped over the edge. Now, I was dead. I smiled, relieved and happy for the first time in a year.

"Sarah," I said happily, as I recognized the tall blonde girl. "How are you today?"

"Who is that?" I didn't recognize the voice behind me. It was angelic, like an opera singer's voice, even while talking. It sounded like...

"Alice," I said unhappily, as I recognized the newcomer. "I didn't know you were dead, too."

"Oh, I'm not dead," she said matter-of-factly. "In fact, I'm pretty sure that at this exact moment, I'm weeping and holding your hand."

"How can you talk?" I said uncomfortably. The voice sounded right coming from my little pixie, but I was used to her hands writing by now.

Then I thought about what I had just thought. My little pixie? Possessive much?

"I don't know," she shrugged. "It's your head. Maybe I'm just perfect in here."

"Maybe," I said.

"Hey," Sarah interrupted. "Mind introducing me?"

"I'm Alice," the pixie said, frowning at Sarah. "She looks a lot like Rosalie, doesn't she?"

"Come on," Sarah said impatiently. "I finally found a place where we can be together forever."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Alice said, taking my left hand. "Bella ain't leasing me, are you, Bella?"

"Of course she is," Sarah said, taking my right hand. "Come on, Bella."

"She can only go with one of us," Alice said, tapping her foot. That was so like her. "Which one, Bella?"

"Come on, Alice," Sarah said, throwing her a dark look. "Of course she's going to choose me. That's why she kissed that blonde girl, you know? She wants to be with me that badly."

"Choose, Bella," Alice breathed. "Don't let her convince you. Choose."

Sarah chuckled. "Yeah, Bella. Choose."

I stood with my arms outstretched, and felt I must know what it felt like to be Jesus, when he was nailed to a crucifix. To want one thing so badly, to go be with my One, only to have another pulling you the other direction. Life and death, only my position was reversed. It was death I wanted.

"I choose..." Then I hesitated. Sure, Christ had chosen the wrong way, but he had found a way to go the other way, hadn't he? If I didn't like the way my life was headed, surely I could come back... one day.

"Come on," I said, enjoying them make the wait. Sarah started to smile, victorious. "Where are we going, Alice?"

I could watch the huge smile on Alice's face grow when I said this. Sarah, on the other hand, shrieked and threw her head back. "No!" she screamed. "You are coming with me!" And she attempted to pull me in one direction. However, I had chosen, and I wasn't going back on my decision just yet.

"Relax, Sarah," I said scornfully. "I might still come back, one day."

She stopped screaming at once, eerily calm. "I'll be waiting," she whispered horribly. Then she was gone.

Alice drew me away. As I went with her, she faded away more and more, and I started to feel my body more, and then she was gone, and I was breathing weakly.

I could hear Carlisle talking in the background. "... afraid we'll have to wait for the autopsy, Rosalie."

"What autopsy?" I breathed hoarsely. "Who died?"

I heard somebody's breath catch, then strong arms were flung around my waist, and my midsection was getting wet as tears fell on it. I looked down, and saw Alice there, clutching at me desperately.

"Bella?" Carlisle's voice sounded stunned. "How are you alive? Nurses! How are you alive, Bella? You should be dead!"

Abruptly, my vision of Sarah morphed slightly and stood in front of me, no longer hiding in the back of my head. "Sarah?" I whispered brokenly.

"Who?" Sarah turned her head around, looking backwards out of the room. "Carlisle, who's Sarah?"

"I have no idea." He sounded as confused as I felt. "Ask her when she comes around."

"Bella, honey," Sarah whispered, placing her hands on my hands, leaning in close to my face. "Don't you remember me? I'm Rosalie."

"I... don't remember you," I told her. Why was she lying? I could see that she was Sarah. She was exactly the same height, had blonde hair, had the same facial structure... Who else could have it. "Who are you?"

The voice hesitated, then took on a sly overtone. "I'm your girlfriend, Bella. Remember?"

My girlfriend? "I don't remember you at all," I confessed. "Were we in love?"

"We loved each other deeply," she assured me. "We've only been going out for a few days, but you were already sleeping over at my house. Talk to me for a while, and I'll tell you all about our life."

I sat there for the next hour, listening to her tell me about how much we were in love, and how Alice had been trying to steal me away from her. I felt a deep anger growing in my chest; how could Alice try to do that to me? I had trusted her!

We both quieted as the girl in question walked in, handing me a note. _Are you alright, Bella?_

Her false sympathy made me feel sick. "Get out," I snapped. "I don't want to ever see you again!"

She stared at me with a shocked expression, which quickly crumbled into a hurt facade. Tears brimmed in her warm eyes as she turned away from me and ran from the room, inaudible sobs rocking her small frame.

"That's the way, dear," Rosalie said affectionately, kissing me lightly on the cheek. Don't get taken in by her lies."

I patted my girlfriend's hand, warmly assured that she would take the utmost care of me.


	6. In a Coma

**Wow, is this chapter depressed enough?**

**Sorry about the mood of it, folks. Another friend of mine died this morning (that's the fourth one this year), and I'm feeling pretty down. I promise, the story is going somewhere.**

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I ran away from the women, tears running down my face. They left a small trail behind me, easily followed if anyone wanted to. Not that they would want to; nobody would want me in the first place. Why would they? I was broken, damaged goods.

Her words kept echoing in my head. "Get out. I don't ever want to see you again!" They bounced around in my skull, growing louder and louder, until I wanted to scream.

I had known it was too good to be true when Bella had promised to always be my friend. Everybody always left me, in the end. Rosalie had stayed by longer than most, but they all left her. She was worthless, she had nothing to offer, she was broken...

Carlisle, my doctor, would listen. He would understand. Or would he? Would he just laugh at me, laugh at my foolishness for ever thinking that someone could ever like me?

I found myself in my room. Tears were streaming down my face, salty and wet, leaving red trails behind them. I looked around, but everything reminded me of Bella. I screamed as I saw the picture I had drawn of the three of us, but of course no-one heard me. No-one ever did. I was locked in my own head.

My eyes fell on the pile of clothes that I had made with Bella. The tears started flowing even harder, and I arrived at my conclusion. They must go. Everything must go.

The pictures went first. The one of me and Rosalie, I tore to shreds. I threw the frame against a wall, feeling a vindictive satisfaction in watching the memories shatter against a wall. I couldn't even bear to touch the picture I had drawn; it just sailed into the hallway, shattering into hundreds of pieces. The picture itself remained unharmed.

The clothes went next. Even the clothes I was wearing were torn off, leaving me shivering at the cold air, dressed only in white undergarments. The clothes were torn to shreds, leaving a huge pile of shredded material. And finally went the last shreds of my happiness; my notebooks and pencils. The last of my hopes and dreams.

Thoughts spiraled around in my head. Broken, damaged goods, nobody cares, dead inside, no hope for this one...

My feet started walking without my prior consent. They carried me at random, turning me down corridors. My face plastered on a happy expression. Even at this low point, I couldn't bring myself to make other people unhappy.

I wandered around the hospital, trying to keep the happy expression on my face instead of the crumpled face I knew I would wear if I let the facade disappear. I had no idea where they took me. All I knew was that one second I was in my room, and the next I was in the lunchroom, walking towards Carlisle's office.

"Ah, Alice," he said pleasantly. "What are you doing here so early?"

I shook my head dumbly, trying to clear it. He seemed to sense something was wrong. "Where's your notebook, Alice?"

He needed to know. I opened my mouth, but no words came out. I tried harder, and harder still, but it just didn't work. The words wouldn't come. In defeat, I just let my facade crumble, showing him the crushing grief I was holding in.

Carlisle took one look at my face and grabbed my arm, guiding me to a chair. We sat down together, me in the more comfortable chair for once, him in a hard plastic chair.

"Where's your notebook?" he asked gently. I shook my head, immobilized by the grief. It was an effort to think at all.

The dark, depressing thoughts were once again at the forefront of my mind. I tried to work past them, but found it difficult. Every movement I made reminded me of how I used to try so hard to communicate with Bella. The memory of her face alone brought on a fresh wave of tears, and I collapsed on the ground, trying to keep myself together in face of what I felt.

"Are you hurt?" he said urgently. I tried to shake my head, but all that resulted was a feeble jerk.

"Show me the wound, if you're hurt," he said comfortingly, obviously trying to give me a small measure of comfort. I dipped my head towards him, but he didn't react. It was a curse to not be able to talk.

"Is it Bella?" he said, confident and in his element now that he knew I wasn't hurt. He had dealt with me since I was eleven. "Did she do something to you?"

The name drove me to a new height in my weeping. There was a small pool of tears directly beneath me, where they had fallen off my face.

"What did she do, Alice?" he asked urgently. "Is it anything I can help you with?"

Cursing him, I dipped my shaking finger in the tears and wrote small words, most probably illegible to him. But I knew that he would read my fingers as I wrote the words. _She doesn't want me._

"What gave you that idea?" he asked, gently wiping a tear off my face. "Did she say that?"

I nodded dumbly, my mind falling into a familiar sense. I wasn't feeling any emotion anymore. Several tears trickled down the end of my nose as I sat up, not understanding why they still fell. I didn't feel sad anymore. I was... empty.

"Do you want me to go speak to her?" he asked. I nodded. Drawing me against his shoulder, we walked out to confront Bella.

I sat on the edge of the bed, listening to her talk. My mind was filled with thoughts of the dream I had had last night.

Alice's face kept popping up in my head. "You came back with me," she accused me, over and over, in a sweet voice. "Why would you do this to me?" And there was Sarah's face. "How could you do that to someone you care about so much, Bella?" she asked me, her voice echoing inside my skull. "You're not the Bella I remember." And Rosalie: "Can I have a kiss, Bella?"

That last one was ridiculous. Alice didn't need to ask for a kiss-

My thoughts stopped, backtracked. Alice? Why had I though Alice? I was with Rosalie, wasn't I? But it was Alice's face that kept appearing when I thought of my emotions. Rosalie brought up a vague feeling of... disgust. Contentment, yes, but disgust, too.

There was a knock on the door. Rosalie stood up and walked over to the door, pulling it open to reveal Doctor Cullen, standing with his arm protectively around Alice.

"Rosalie," he acknowledged quietly. "Can I speak to you privately, Bella?"

Rosalie stood her ground. I was proud of her, for sticking up for me. "Whatever you have to say to her, you can say to me, too," she said bluntly.

"Fine." He sounded angry. I quailed backwards; I had never found an angry doctor before. Wasn't a certain amount of professionalism required in a doctor?

"What did you do to Alice?" he said roughly, staring angrily at me. "What did you say to her, that made her like this?"

What, was she angry with me? I searched her eyes, looking for anger, sadness, something. I felt vaguely uneasy when I noticed the lack of emotion there. Surely there should have been some happiness or sadness there, at the least. But there was... nothing.

"I said nothing she didn't deserve," I snapped. "Rosalie told me what she did to me."

Rosalie turned, opening her mouth to say something. But it was too late; I saw the look of confusion on Carlisle's face. "What did she do to you?" he asked, pulling out a clipboard from somewhere.

"Rosalie told me about how she was always hitting on me," I replied. "Trying to steal me away from my Rosalie. What else was I supposed to do?"

"Stop talking, Bella," Rosalie hissed. "Carlisle's in on it; can't you see how he treats her?"

I took a closer look at them, and did, in fact, see something. The way that he drew Alice too close to him, as close as a father would draw in a child. The lengths to which he was going to protect Alice, even in the face of what she had done...

"Follow me, Bella," he said evenly. When Rosalie started to follow, he held up his hand, preventing her from moving. "Stop," he said, gesturing at her. "You can stay here," he told her. "Doctor-patient confidentiality, and all that."

I followed along curiously, watching the way Alice no longer moved with grace and precision. She stumbled along, not seeming to care what her feet were doing. I got the idea that she wouldn't be moving at all if Doctor Cullen wasn't guiding her.

We walked back into the Rehabilitation Ward, straight into his office. I was aware of the way that everyone in there was staring at me accusingly.

"What is this about Alice hitting on you?" he asked me, sorting through a filing cabinet. It had already been open when we walked in. Either someone else had gone through it, or he had opened it and had forgotten to close it again, in too much hurry to be somewhere. "Alice, did you ever hit on her?"

Alice shook her head, a slight movement. Ordinarily, I would have been wondering what her problem was, but I was beginning to suspect now.

"Take a look at these, Bella," he said gently, handing me several pieces of paper. I looked at them. The first one was marked 7th July 2009.-Isabella Swan.

_7th July, 2009- Isabella Swan_

_Patient has indicated an impatience with one Rosalie Hale- a friend of the subject. Isabella suggests, at several times during the interview, that Miss Hale had developed feelings for the patient. Isabella has indicated that she does not return these feelings; indeed, she has told me that she has feelings for another patient, one Mary Alice Brandon, a mute._

_10th July, 2009- Isabella Swan_

_Patient has indicated frustration with the aforementioned Rosalie Hale (see 7th July, 2009). Isabella has confided that Rosalie invited her to her house, but the patient has stated that she turned it down, at the suggestion of Mary Alice Brandon. She has also indicated certain signs of frustration towards Mary Brandon, but in a different way than to Rosalie Hale- sexual frustration, in this case._

_11th July 2009- Isabella Swan_

_Patient came for ten minutes. She has gone with Mary Alice Brandon for a small outing, to buy materials for clothing. She also indicated that Rosalie Hale invited her over to her house again. She accepted, at the condition that Mary Brandon also went- possibly an attempt to woo Mary Brandon._

"When did you write these?" I asked, tears trembling at the corners of my eyes. "What date is it?"

"It is the twelfth of July," he answered me sadly.

"You wrote this... yesterday?" I asked, my voice trembling. "But... Rosalie didn't tell me that I was feeling frustrated towards her. She said we had been dating for weeks."

"Did she now," Carlisle said grimly. "That is interesting. I think you must consider the possibility that you have been lied to, Bella."

"Lied?" My voice sounded weak. "But..."

"And I think there's someone here who you might want to apologize to," he reminded me gently.

I stumbled towards Alice. "I'm sorry," I whispered. "I didn't know what I was saying... But even now, I think that I still remember. I couldn't stay mad at you, you just kept popping up... everywhere."

She didn't respond, not even a flicker. I glanced at Carlisle despondently. "What's wrong with her?" I asked, my voice trembling.

"She activated one of the mind's most powerful defenses when you screamed at her," he said worriedly. "She has basically gone into a coma, except that she is able to move around. There is a large chance that she may never wake up again."

And I had done this. "I just need to speak to Rosalie," I said, my voice weak. "Then I'll be back for Alice. Do you think that the hospital would mind if I stayed overnight?"

"They wouldn't mind," he said, flashing a smile at me. "You still have to stay here, after all."

"I'll be up at her room in a while," I said. "I just need to speak to Rosalie."

Rosalie. I turned, almost not of my own volition, and retraced my steps, walking back to my room. It took exactly nine minutes and eleven seconds to walk back. Then I was staring at my blank white room.

"Bella!" Rosalie exclaimed, throwing her arms around my waist. "You're back! I missed you-"

I cut her off, pushing her roughly to the ground. "You lied to me," I growled through clenched teeth. "About everything. How could you do that?"

"Who told you I lied to you?" she asked indignantly.

"I read my patient records, Rosalie," I said, hissing at her. "I haven't even known you for the length of time you claim to have been dating me for."

"You're speaking strangely," she said, pulling back to stare at me. "Are you alright?" She had fallen for my bluff.

"And to make it worse," I said, continuing over the top of her, "you hurt Alice badly in the process, Rosalie. She's in a coma because of you!"

That hit home. She flinched. "In a coma?" she said, her voice quavering.

"In a coma," I said harshly. "You put her there. You manipulated me. What else have you done, Rosalie?"

She started crying. I stared at her coldly, before turning to leave.

Alice was laying insensibly on her bed when I walked in. Carlisle was standing next to her. "Ah, Bella," he said pleasantly. "I assume you're here to help?"

"Of course," I said defensively. "What does she need?"

"Clothes wouldn't hurt," he said sadly. "She destroyed all the ones you and she made together. Then she eats dinner- she only eats fruit, but. Her parents used to force meat and vegetables down her throat, trying to make her speak by making her healthy. Fruit is the only thing she can eat now."

"I'll do it," I said resolutely. "I'll take care of her until she wakes up. And after that."

"Good girl," he said, patting me on the back. "Start with making her bed."

I gently led her off the bed, preparing myself to care for a girl I barely knew for the rest of the year, maybe even longer. As long as it took, I swore. As long as it took and longer. I would never be able to make it up to her, but by God I would never stop trying.

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**Hmmm, this is very different to how it started. Oh, well, maybe you people will like it.**

**So basically, Alice is in a coma, Bella still has partial amnesia but has recognized what is going on, and my head is spinning.**

**Review. Tell me if you think I should just pull this chapter, or go with it.**

**Everybody always seems worried that I'll give up on my story. Don't worry, people. I won't give up on my stories. I love writing too much.**

**Damn, I forgot to do this last chapter... oh, well. leggere e rivedere! Or, as the english put it, Read and Review!**


	7. Reconciliation

**Wow, this chapter is short.**

**First of all, thanks must go to Nykie, for what I must consider to be the best review yet. It pointed out flaws in my writing (expect to see small rewrites done soon), as well as praised me. Yes! And it was also a long PM.**

**Take the advice, folks. If you want to say more, or don't want others to read what you say when it's not a flame, then PM me. I welcome them.**

**This chapter is mostly filler, explaining what Bella does now. It also reconciles Bella with someone (not who you would expect :D) and reveals some of her murky background.**

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After a few days, I discovered that it would be harder to take care of her than I had though. She required constant care. She could walk around, but if none of us moved her, then she would sit there, unmoving, until her muscles cramped. Then she would sit there in agony until someone moved her again.

Every day, I would sit with her in the morning, and feed her breakfast- fruit again. This girl was strange; I made a mental note to ask Carlisle exactly why she only ate fruit. Then I would take her in, and one of the nurses would wash her, dry her, and clothe her. Only in suits she had made herself, in the hope that familiar things would help bring her out of her coma.

Then I would take her out for a jog, keeping her in at least some level of fitness. We would run for around half an hour, then come back in and watched some T.V shows that the nurses said she liked for an hour. For lunch, she had more fruit. Supposedly, she liked the pool, so from there, we would go down to the pool, and I would encourage her to swim. This was perhaps the hardest thing I had to convince her to do. We would swim laps for another half an hour, then go back to her room.

There, we would read books that Carlisle said she often borrowed from him. Or more correctly, I would read them to her, encouraging her to read them. Nurses would come in, take her away. I had no idea what they did with her then. I just assumed it was simple things, like showering her again, and taking her to the toilet. When she came back, she would always be clean. Dinner would arrive shortly after that- more fruit.

For the next few hours, we would sit around, doing random activities- usually, I would talk to her, just random snippets of my previous life, back in Phoenix. All my old friends, the first fencing lessons I had taken, the fights I used to have with Charlie.  
The first time there was any sign of improvement, it was exactly four weeks after she had slipped into her Alice-coma. I had been reading her one of her favourite books, _Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. _We had just reached one of the more exciting scenes, the love-potion scene, and she had smiled. Not usually something to get excited about, but she had worn a vacant expression for weeks.

Today, however, I had to go home. Every single scrap of clothing I had been wearing was torn, usually from swimming with Alice. The thing that worried me was Charlie. I hadn't seen him for six weeks, hadn't told him where I was or anything. He knew I was with Alice, but that was it.

The car, a small Ford, was waiting out the front of the hospital. It was an apology gift from Rosalie. I hadn't wanted to accept it, but it would help Alice get better, and how could I refuse anything that would do that?

_I remembered when Rosalie had come to visit Alice for the first time. It was over a week after Alice had left her mind. Rosalie had no idea that I was there; I had hidden in the bathroom when she came, fearing to see her just yet. I would wait until I had finished with Alice, and had some will power left._

"I paid your hospital fees." Rosalie's voice was low, low enough that I had trouble hearing her. "You're going to be here for a while, I think. Someone had to pay them, and I don't think B-Bella will be able to."

I stood very quietly, listening to her.

"I'm sorry for doing this to you." Her voice became much more passionate now. "I never meant for you to be hurt, I swear. It's just, you and Bella were the first people who ever spoke to me without caring about my money. You had no interest in me, but I needed someone who did, and didn't care about my money."

Of course, Alice didn't move. I could understand why she did what she did now, but I still couldn't forgive her. That was beyond me at the moment.

It was nice, knowing that she still wanted to help Alice. It made me a little let hateful about her.

The Ford purred to life beneath me. I changed gears and drove out of the parking lot, preparing for the inevitable confrontation with Charlie when I eventually walked in. He wouldn't be able to forgive me, from what I knew of him.

It took me the usual five minutes to drive home. I parked the car out the front, and hopped out, taking deep breaths to try and calm myself. The knock sounded extra loud in face of my nervousness.

Charlie answered, red-eyed and sounding very tired. "Bella?" he asked, sounding surprised to see me. "What are you doing here? I though you were living with your girlfriend now."

"I'm not living with my girlfriend," I said evenly. "My _friend_-" I emphasized the word _friend_- "is in hospital. I've been in there with her, trying to help her get better."

"This isn't anything like Sarah, is it?" he asked. I was extremely surprised to hear some genuine concern in his voice.

He caught my look of surprise. "I know you don't think I care about you, Bella," he said, sounding serious now, and not at all sleepy. "But I do. You used to scream at me, because you thought I didn't support you. I do support you, Bella. It's just, I don't want you to get hurt again."

Now I was the one staring at him, trying to ascertain if he was real. "What do you mean?" I asked, shocked.

"I know what happened between you and Sarah," he said quietly.

Her name felt like I was being stabbed with hot needles.

Sarah, the first love of my life. She was the girl who had helped me realize why I wasn't attracted to any boys.

"I remember the fight you two had," he continued.

I had caught Sarah kissing another girl, behind the Maths classroom. I had confronted her about it when she had turned up at my house later.

"You screamed that you didn't love her anymore," he reminisced.

She had told me that she had feelings for this girl, but still wanted to be with me. She had confided in me how confused she was, what she was feeling. Torn by the revelation that she loved another girl, I had told her that I didn't love her anymore.

"She cried and left."

Sarah had broken down into tears, turning away fro me. She had ran to her car and drove off. I had never learned where she had gone.

"The next day, you got a call from the hospital."

The hospital had called, asking me if I was a close friend of Sarah. I had affirmed that, and they had given me the most terrible news in my life to date; my girlfriend was dead.

"You came crying to me, shrieking that she had committed suicide."

Indeed she had. Just to make sure she died, she had apparently overdosed on pills, slit her wrists then hung herself. If two failed to kill her, then the third had surely done it.

"I said the wrong things."

He had said that he was glad she was dead. I had punched him as hard as I could.

"I didn't mean that," he said earnestly, staring at me with eyes I had to believe. "Please believe that. What I had meant was that I was glad that you weren't dead."

My face felt like a frozen mask. I couldn't move anything on it.

"I have to admit, I was glad that the girl who had hurt my daughter was gone. But it hurt to know she was dead, anyway."

I finally unfroze. "Charlie!" I yelled, throwing my arms around his neck.

"There, there," he said gruffly, patting my back. "It's okay."

My arms flew away from his neck. I pulled away uncertainly, climbing upstairs to get my clothes. I had just finished re-zipping my bag- I had over twelve new pairs in there; it was nearly bursting- when I heard Charlie's cry of pain.

"Dad!" I yelled. Slinging the bag over my shoulders as I ran downstairs, stumbling once, I arrived at his side.

He lay with his eyes closed, unconscious, but still breathing. There was blood streaming from the side of his head, and blood on the corner of the bench. Looking around, I saw a small puddle of water that he might have tripped over.

My fingers found the now-familiar buttons, dialing the hospital's number. "Carlisle?" I asked, after hearing his voice. "Send an ambulance. It's my dad, he's hurt."

He promised the ambulance would be there in five minutes. I held a tea-towel over his head, hoping that he would be okay. I didn't want him to die just when I had reconciled with him.

When the ambulance arrived, loaded Charlie, and left, there was a Ford following it. My Ford.

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**Did you like what I put in this chapter? Rosalie is less of a bitch now, and Charlie is actually decent and understanding (unlike in my other story).**

**Not much of a cliffie, but it will hang over you for a day. Until I update next.**

**Things will get more exciting next week. If Alice is responding now, then why shouldn't she do more next time?**

**レビューを読んで、 Or, as the English say it, Read and Review!**


	8. Dreams and Memories

**Okay everyone, another shortish chapter :( I'm sorry, I'm just really tired and depressed, don't have much energy, so my typing speed is way lowered to like, 30 words a minute. Horrible.**

**Well, I must say, I didn't expect my story to be this popular. 77 reviews, for 7 chapters already. That's like, 11 per chapter! Awesome! At that rate, I'll have over 100 reviews, easily!**

**I was told to do this...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. If I did, this wouldn't be posted here, would it?**

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I bit down tears, trying my hardest not to cry. Rosalie stood beside me; the silence felt awkward, unnatural. I knew it was all in my head, but I couldn't help wondering why she was here.

I was waiting for Carlisle to walk out of the room. He was one of the doctors treating Charlie's head wound, and he had promised that I would be the first person to hear the news.

"How is Alice doing?" Rosalie asked, her body turning slightly towards me. In truth, once I had reassured myself that Charlie was in good hands, Alice was the first person I had run to. I felt immensely guilty about that, but it was true.

"She's fine," I whispered back. "She was being taken care of by two nurses when I went to see her earlier."

"That's good," she said. "How much time do you spend away from Alice, Bella?"

I thought about that, wanting to answer her truthfully. It seemed the right thing to do. "Until today- all my time."

"That's not good," she drawled. I glared at her, and she raised her arms defensively. "I know she needs help, but you've got exams coming up in school, Bella!"

"School can wait," I growled. "There are more important things."

"It can't wait, Bella!" she exclaimed, turning me to face her properly. "Why would you think it could?"

"Alice is more important," I hissed.  
"I can go back to school next year, or the year after. Can I do that for Alice?"

"I wish you could, Bella." Her voice was pained, almost to the point of breaking. "It's time you face the facts, Bella. Alice is not going to wake up properly."

Gathering all my strength, which was still impressive, thanks to me carrying Alice around- I slapped her. She stumbled backwards and hit a wall.

"Alice _will _wake up," I said menacingly. "If you ever say different, then I swear, you won't get up in this room again."

"It's not healthy," she whispered. "You have to get over her."

I laughed rudely. I knew this was hurting her, but I didn't care. "Why?" I asked cruelly. "So you can move in, take over the empty place?"

She gasped, sounding affronted. I didn't care. Wishing that there was something that could distract me, I walked in and out of the room, hundreds of times. My watch slowly ticked past the five-minute mark, and I was getting more and more restless. Then I heard Carlisle, speaking loudly in the other room, "He should be fine."

I nearly swooned with relief, and I spied him walking out, pristinely clean. For some reason, I was vaguely irritated but that, but my mind was filled by thoughts of Alice.

"Doctor Cullen," I called. I seemed to slip between calling him Carlisle and Doctor Cullen a lot. "Can I speak with you for a minute, please?"

He turned back to me, gesturing to a small room, completely devoid of anyone else. "Sure," he said kindly.

"Why-" My voice was choked, and I was unable to force the words out. The tears were stupid, and I set myself to work past them. "Why does Alice only eat fruit?"

Carlisle sighed. "Didn't she tell you while she was awake?"

Well," I said cautiously. "I got the feeling she would have done..." That was bullshit, and I knew it. "But then all this happened.

"Ah," he sighed. "I understand now."

"So will you tell me?" I pressed, determined to know everything about my Alice.

My Alice?

"Sure," he said. "Sit down. This could take a while."

I pulled a chair to the empty space next to him, gesturing for him to start his story.

_Alice's parents were two very vain people, used to having everything in their lives perfect. If something wasn't perfect, then someone would come and fix the problem, making sure everything was perfect._

_They got married early, at only nineteen years of age. Her mother was pregnant at twenty. Her father was overjoyed; he would have a perfect child to spoil._

_For eight months, the pregnancy went without a hitch. Then, a car hit her. It was a complete accident, and the driver- a white-haired old man- immediately got out and tried to help her. Unfortunately, the shock of being hit by a car sent the woman into an early labour._

_When Alice was delivered, the parents were curious as to why their baby didn't cry. She didn't cry all the way home, and when they got home, she didn't cry when her mother forgot to feed her. Eventually, they figured out what was wrong when Alice's father accidentally dropped her and she writhed in pain, but still didn't make a sound._

_According to the doctors who treated her, of which Doctor Gerandy and Doctor Black were part, when the car had hit Alice's mother, it had affected Alice in the womb. She had been born without the ability to make more than a whimper._

_Frustrated by her lack of sound, and by the fact that there was something not perfect in their lives, they spent months trying to make her speak. At the age of two, she was thrown down stairs by her father, she was starved, she was made sick on purpose._

_Eventually, her parents realized that maybe it was better to make her healthy than to abuse her. From there, it was a small step to abusing her to make her healthy. They forced food down her throat, always meat and vegetables. Never a piece of fruit crossed her lips._

_After another three years of this, her parents grew tired of this and threw her onto the streets, hoping to force her to talk This attempt failed as well; there was just no way she could talk without extended physiotherapy._

_Aghast at this fact, they disowned her. She was sent to a hospital, and her family refused to take her back._

"That's horrible," I whispered. "How could anyone do that to a child?"

"That's not the end of her story," he said grimly. "But that's all her parents have to do with it."

"What is the rest of it?" I wanted to know.

_Alice was abandoned at that hospital since she turned five, or slightly before that. The hospital's records weren't too clear on this._

_She was unable to function outside the hospital. If she was forced into a new situation, she would go into lock-down- much like the one she was in now, except that the small ones, she would come out of eventually, after a couple of days._

_For six years, Alice spoke to no-one but Carlisle. She had no friends, and even the nurses were creeped out by her and her unusual methods of communication. In the end, she spent weeks at a time locked in a hospital room, just drawing aimless pictures, pictures of the hospital, its' staff and random patients._

_Then, an eleven-year-old Rosalie Hale came in to the hospital, undergoing rehabilitation after her left muscles had been cut and reattached, by her mother and the doctors, respectively. Rosalie felt like she could be friends with Alice, because Alice saw her, and not her money. Alice thought they could be friends because Rosalie sounded nice to the mute._

_When Alice turned thirteen, the hospital decided they no longer had the funds to support her. They kicked her out, and Rosalie offered to let her move in with her. She accepted, and they were slightly happy. Until Rosalie's mother found out._

_Two days after Mrs. Hale found out, Alice was readmitted into hospital, bearing signs of further abuse. By this time, Carlisle was working here. He took a personal interest in her._

_Rosalie decided to pay for her stays at the hospital. Alice has been here ever since. Alice has told no-one what happened to her in those two days locked in a room with Mrs. Hale._

"And it's been haunting her ever since," he finished.

"I should go," I said, standing up. "She might be awake now."

"Goodbye, Bella," he sighed. I tore out of the room, running to Alice's room.

She was laid out on the bed, all her limbs outstretched. I still had trouble remembering what we had had before the accident I had had, but some pieces were coming back to me when I tried hard enough. I remembered the way the light used to sparkle in her hair, the way she used to move her lips silently as if she were talking...

"I'm sorry, Alice," I said tearfully."I didn't mean to hurt you." There was absolutely no sign that she heard me. I climbed in beside her, laying my head next to hers. I closed my eyes and slept.

_Alice was sitting in a chair beside me. I looked up, disoriented, and saw nothing above. That convinced me that I was in a dream; it was impossible to see nothing._

"So, you know," she stated. I jumped, giddy with hearing Alice's voice.

"I know," I responded. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was going to," she said. "The day I came to your room, I was going to tell you."

"Ah," I said quietly. We sat in silence, until I shifted, breaking the moment.

"What do I need to do to wake you up?" I asked, fascinated by the way she moved.

"Keep taking care if me," she answered. "Just give me time." Then she cleared her throat nervously. "Can I do something?" she asked, sliding her arms around my waist and looking up at me with an earnest expression.

"You never have to ask," I answered. And it was true; that was what she needed of me.

"That's good," she whispered. She leaned into me and tenderly captured my lips with hers, adjusting herself comfortably underneath me.

I woke with a start, feeling panicked when I couldn't move. What was wrong?

I tried to say something, but felt something warm and wet against them. I opened my eyes, and found myself staring into Alice's closed eyes. Her lips were on mine, and she was laid comfortably on me, her lips on mine. Just like in my dream.

Nurses swarmed in around me. Even Carlisle came in. "Don't get your hopes up," he whispered, squeezing my shoulder. "She may not wake up quite yet." But he was beaming.

And my left shoulder, which had not hurt in months, pulled me to the left. I looked, and saw Rosalie standing there, looking at our position with a tender, loving expression.

* * *

**Ahahaha, so Alice will eventually wake up. That has been preordained by me.**

**We have realized most of Alice's murky background. Bit of a question here, which is also a major spoiler; what is the name of Alice's dead family member, mentioned when Alice tells Bella her full name in New Moon? Sorry, I lent my copy out to a friend :D**

**To all those Rosalie fans out there; Hate me no more! If you will look at my profile, you will see I have decided to work on 2 fanfics at the same time when I finish Empty Memories. It's called Fallen Angel- an unrequited love story. I love them, they're always so bittersweet.**

**What is the name of a person who enjoys being sad? A person who enjoys being hurt/dominated is a masochist, but I'm just curious.**

**อ่านและตรวจสอบ! Or, as the English say, Read and Review!**


	9. Waking Up

**Hey, everyone. It's back to purely me, D. Sarah went back to Canberra earlier today.**

**Well, today I'm going away for Mother's day. When I get back, I'll post another chapter of Fallen Angel for yas.**

* * *

I watched Alice tenderly. Since the night when I had woken up with her lips on mine, there had been rapid improvements in her condition. And every night without fail, she would dry sob, as the nurses no longer let us share a bed. At least, that's why I thought (or maybe hoped) she cried.

fAre you sure there is nothing you can do?" I asked Carlisle desperately. "You saw how much she improved after I slept next to her once. Imagine what I could do if I stayed with her a lot more."

"I'm trying to talk the nurses into allowing it," he said. "But the nurses simply won't allow it."

"There has to be something," I said. "Think of something. I can't just sit back and watch, while I know there's something I can do to help."

He drew in a deep breath. "You could always get Rosalie to bribe them," he said. I wasn't sure if he was kidding or not.

"I haven't seen Rosalie since that night," I admitted. "I think seeing us share a bed upset her."

"Maybe it wasn't the sleeping together part that helped her out," Carlisle said cautiously. "There's always a chance that it was another trigger that helped her. Was there anything else that happened?"

"We kissed," I said thoughtfully. "Could that be it?"

"Does she like you like that?" he questioned me. "That might be it, if she does."

"I don't know if she does," I said slowly. "I like her like that, but."

"Well, it's a risk," he said, snapping his clipboard shut. "If she doesn't, then she might sink further into her coma again. But if she does, then she just might wake up."

"What are the chances that she likes me?" I asked him, hanging on to his sleeve. "Does she even like girls?"

"Are you thinking clearly?" he asked me. "I think that she does like girls like that. At least, considering that when you told her you never wanted to speak to her again, that was when she sunk into her coma. I think there's a good chance."

"And if she doesn't?" I asked desperately. "How long will it take to get her back to where she is now?"

"It could take over a year," he answered. "It is a big risk. Only you can decide if you want to take it."

Damn! My heart is conflicted. On the one hand, I like to kiss Alice, and if it has a chance of working, then I wanted to do it. But on the other hand, it might just send her deeper...

"What should I do?" I asked him.

"It's your choice," he shrugged. "If I were you, I would kiss her, but then again, I am often selfish like that."

"You?" I laughed. "You, selfish?"

He laughed with me. "That does sound stupid, doesn't it?" he asked quietly.

"It really does," I chuckled. "Thanks, Carlisle."

"By the way, Bella," he called after my retreating back. "I believe Alice has another visitor."

"Who could that be?" I asked myself. "Maybe it's Rosalie. That would be good,I would see if she could bribe the nurses."

I turned into Alice's room- and saw another girl, looking a lot like Alice sitting in a chair beside her.

"Who are you?" I asked, thrown back by the similarity between them.

"I'm Cynthia," she replied, frowning as she looked at me. "Who are you?"

"I'm Bella," I shot back. "Why are you here?"

"I am here," she said slowly, as if to make sure I understood, "because I am Alice's sister."

Her sister. That explained why they looked alike. "Have you ever visited before?" I asked her, sounding rather jealous.

"No," she admitted. "I only just found out where she was."

"I didn't even know Alice had a sister," I told her. "I though Alice's parents kicked her out?"

"They did," she said seriously. "My parents don't know I'm here. They think I'm sleeping over at a friend's house."

"You're not exactly perfect, either," I noted. "Why did they keep you?"

"Because the police told them they had to," she said cheerfully. "Now, why is my sister not moving?"

"She's in a sort of a coma," I said sheepishly.

"A coma?" I heard surprise and real fear in her voice. "How did she get into that?"

"My fault," I said, raising my hand. "But it wasn't entirely mine."

She crossed her arms and glared at me. "Explain," she said menacingly.

"I sort of hurt myself," I said, staring at her. "I was coming down hard off ecstasy, and everything seemed so hard. Then, of course, I nearly died. When I woke up, I had lost maybe a month of my life. Another girl lied to me about my life, and told me Alice had hurt me, when she hadn't. So I yelled at her, and she went into this." I gestured at Alice, on the bed.

"So it is your fault," she clarified.

"Not entirely," I stressed.

"Do something to fix it then," she said impatiently. "Bring her out of it."

"I can't," I said quietly. "There's one thing I could try, but it might send her deeper in."

"Then try it," she said, walking over to me threateningly. "It can't get much worse, can it?"

"Yes, it can," I whispered, my voice tortured as I remembered what it had been like earlier. "She will eat on her own now, she can wash herself, she has even made some attempt at communication with the staff. Imagine if she couldn't even do that. It's what she used to be like."

"And how did she get to here?" she asked curiously. "Was it medicine, or something?"

"No," I said crossly. "She-"

"She what?" Cynthia said. "She ate something, she slipped on something, she what?"

"She kissed me," I said. "I slept next to her one night, and I woke up with her kissing me. Then, after that, she was like this." I gestured to her again.

"So, then, kiss her again," Cynthia said reasonably. "If you kissed her once and this happened, imagine what could happen with a second kiss."

"Aren't you bothered at all by this?" I asked. "Most people would try to kill me if I tried to kiss their sisters."

"It's who she is," she shrugged. "I think, anyway. Is it?"

"I have no idea," I said shortly, crossing the room to stand next to Alice. "I haven't known her very long. Maybe two months now? Maybe more. Most of the time I knew her, she was like this."

"Wow," Cynthia said, amazed. "You knew her for like, a month, and you already kissed her?"

"She kissed me," I corrected her. "I was asleep." But I was chewing my bottom lip as I said it.

"You caused the problem," Cynthia shrugged. "You do whatever you can to fix it."

"Maybe," I said slowly. "But what if it sends her deeper in?"

"There is that," she frowned. "Well, you have to do something. I did not spend four years tracking my sister down just to talk to a comatose girl!"

"Big words," I said dryly. "Do you know what comatose means, Cynthia?"

"No," she flushed. "It was written at the end of her bed."

I stared at the sign glumly. "Written by the same nurses who won't let me sleep next to her again," I said.

A tear trickled down the corner of Alice's eye. I looked at the heart monitor, and saw a pace of eighty-two beats a minute. That was her sleeping heart rate.

"She's asleep," I said. "She always cries when she sleeps, now."

Cynthia smirked. "Are her dreams of you that bad, then?" she laughed.

"Shut up," I scowled, cuffing her across the back of her head. "Fuck!" I swore, as my shoulder twinged again. It had stopped doing that for a while after I had regained the use of my arm, according to Rosalie. But it had started doing that again. I turned to alleviate the pain.

"What?" Cynthia asked, startled.

"My shoulder," I muttered. "It was stabbed in a fencing accident, when I stumbled onto my partner's sword."

"Sword," she snorted. "Is that the actual term for it?"

"I have no idea," I admitted. "It's probably a rapier, or a foil, or something stupid like that. But it's long, and made to stab people, so it's a sword."

"Good enough," she acknowledged, tilting her head. "Is that how you met Alice?"

"No," I muttered, avoiding her gaze now. "That was because I was on drugs."

"Why were you on drugs?" she asked curiously.

"I was depressed," I muttered. "My girlfriend had recently died, and my mother was cheating on her boyfriend Phil with another guy called Harry Clearwater, so Phil was abusing me, and a bunch of other stuff."

"So you are gay!" Cynthia exclaimed triumphantly. "Why won't you kiss my sister, then?"

"Because it might make her worse," I said, rolling my eyes. "Duh."

"But it might make her better," she persisted. "And what if she doesn't improve from here, Bella? Could you live with yourself, knowing there was something you could have done?"

I hesitated, unable to speak. She pressed her advantage. "And besides, I know you'll enjoy it."

That decided me. I leaned down hesitantly, then couldn't make myself go down any further. It was just too risky.

"I need to see my sister," Cynthia said quietly, behind me. "There is something you can do to help me do that. I have gone for fourteen years without knowing my sister, Bella."

I drew in a deep breath. "I just... Don't want to cause her more pain," I said quietly.

"And I understand that," she said soothingly. "But what if it won't cause pain? You can't live your whole life based on the fact that your decisions might hurt people, Bella. The fact is, your decisions will hurt people. Sometimes, however, they make things right."

"That was deep," I complimented her. "Good job of thinking that up."

"Stop stalling!" she snapped.  
"Okay!" I said, injured.

Taking another deep breath, I leaned down to her, hesitating just above her. What if she went deeper as a result of this?

No. No stalling. Before I could stop myself, I crossed the last little distance, pressing my lips against hers. I held myself in this awkward position for what seemed to be years, before I felt a slight response.

I opened my eyes again, not having realized that I had closed them. The first thing I saw was two eyes open underneath me. They were sparkling with joy and happiness.

"Alice," I breathed against her mouth. "You're back."

She just lifted her hands, placed them on the back of my head, and pulled me deeper into the kiss. I lost myself in it, marveling at how warm she was beneath me, how soft her lips were. Then she parted her lips slightly and ran her tongue along my lower lip.

"Alice!" Cynthia exclaimed. "You're awake!"

Alice turned to look at her, then cringed into my shoulder as she realized we had an audience.

"Alice," I said softly, smiling. "This is your sister, Cynthia."

* * *

**Hahaha, here's a teaser for you; Rosalie is perfectly okay with Alice and Bella. She actually made up her mind to support them. So where is she? Well, here'a a clue; it has something to do with Cynthia.**

**Well, i'll see you all next time, 'kay?**

**Read and Review! (Google Translate won't work for me today)**


	10. Locked up

**Hey, everyone. I decided to rewrite the chapter, as promised. Hopefully, it will make more sense.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

"Hello, Alice," Cynthia said softly, blushing as she saw the extreme intimacy between us. "How are you?"

Alice didn't look up, but I felt the warmth on my shoulder, and I knew she was blushing as well. "She can't talk," I said gently. "She's a mute, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," she said sheepishly, combing her hair with her fingers. "So, how can I talk to her?"

I was hit by a stroke of genius. "I know!" I said, digging around in my bag. I dragged out my cellphone, holding it out for Alice. She understood at once, and opened up the text-message feature, typing a message for Cynthia. _Hello, sister._

"So, how are you," she asked, still blushing. I followed her gaze, and saw that somehow, without me noticing, Alice had managed to pull me completely on top of her.

"Alice," I said, looking at her. "This position isn't exactly a good one for me."

Her face crumpled in hurt. Fearing a relapse, I took her face in my hands and whispered, "Alice, try sitting up, or you could just let me sit up, but this position is a little... _intimate..._ for a public hospital."

She blushed and released my waist. However, I found myself unwilling to let her completely go, so I sat cross-legged on her bed, and pulled her head onto my lap. My hands braided her hair contentedly as she typed something on the phone.

_Why are you here?_

Cynthia looked hurt. "I'm your sister," she said crossly. "Why wouldn't I be here?"

_You haven't been here for the past fourteen years._

"She's got a point," I said quietly. "If you haven't been here for fourteen years, then why would you turn up here now, at the exact time Alice is in a coma?"

She played with her fingers. "Well, the hospital sent a letter to our house, saying that Alice-"

"Wait a minute," I interrupted. "The hospital knows where you live?"

Cynthia looked at me. "Of course they do," she said, looking at me as if I was stupid. "Can you stop doing that? Seeing my sister like that, it's so wrong."

I looked down, and saw what effect my fingers were having on Alice. Even though I was only playing with her hair, there was a blissful smile on her face, and she was leaning into my touch.

"Alice!" I said sharply. Se stopped smiling, and gave me a guilty look. "What are you doing?"

She pouted. _Why did you stop?_

"Alice- you-" I spluttered, unable to come up with the right words. "I used to have a pet cat who looked the same when I was petting it."

Cynthia laughed. "Pet cat," she muttered. "That's funny."

I glared at her. "You leave my pet cat alone."

Now Cynthia was laughing even harder. "Your pet cat?" she asked. "That's a bit possessive, Bella."

We were both glaring at her. _Leave me alone,_ Alice wrote, shaking it in Cynthia's face.

"You're just jealous," I accused. "You wish that you could have a girlfriend who let you do this."

"Yeah," she shrugged. "I am, a bit."

"Well, at least you're admitting it," I muttered, sinking back to the bed. I began stroking Alice again, letting the soft strands of her hair fall between my fingers. Alice smiled.

"Shut up," Cynthia muttered.

"Take your own advice," I shot back.

"Alice," she whined. "Shut your girlfriend up."

Alice grinned devilishly. Sitting up, she placed her hands behind my head and pulled me down, placing her lips over mine. Just to annoy Cynthia, I let out several small moans.

"You can't even get your girlfriend to shut up while you kiss her," Cynthia said, disgusted. "Either you're a really bad kisser, a really good kisser, or you just want to drive me crazy."

"Option three," I grinned.

Alice pouted again, looking at me with these adorable little eyes. I sunk right into them, losing myself in their depths.

"And that's my cue to leave," Cynthia said, moving to leave. "Um- you wouldn't happen to have a place where I could stay, do you, Alice?"

"I would offer you my house, but my dad's in hospital," I grimaced. "Wait a second, I'll call Rosalie for you." I took my phone of Alice, still stroking her hair, and punched in Rosalie's number.

It had nearly rung all the way through when Rosalie picked up. "Oh, thank god!" Rosalie yelled when she did finally pick up. "I found the phone!"

"Had you lost it?" I asked, grinning.

"No!" she yelled. I took a step back, then remembered I was on the phone. "Bella, my mother's lost it. She heard that Alice's sister was in town, and she went nuts! She screamed that she didn't want me seeing any more girls, and she threw me in here. Bella, it's dark in here. I'm cold, and I'm hungry, and Bella, I'm scared."

"How long have you been in there, Rose?" I asked, feeling unsettled now.

"I don't know, Bella," she sobbed. "The last time I was out was the time I saw you sleeping next to Alice. You've got to help me, Bella."

"Where did she put you, Rose?" I asked. She started panting nervously.

"I think it's the basement," she sniffled. "I'm not sure."

"I'm gonna go talk to my father," I said slowly, making sure she understood. "You're not playing a joke on me, are you?"

"No, Bella," she whispered hoarsely. "Can you hurry?"

"I'll run there," I assured her. I stood up and gestured for Alice to get up. They would both want to know what was happening.

"Come on, guys," I said, and then I started sprinting down the hallway. Behind me, I could hear Alice having trouble keeping up, and I knew that Cynthia had fallen behind. Poor, short little girl.

I was panting by the time I reached Charlie's room. He looked away from his T.V to look at me.

"What's up, Bells?" he asked.

"Phone," I gasped. "Rose. Dark. Take." I extended my arm out, waiting for him to take the phone.

He did so nervously. "Hello," he said hesitantly. "Who is this?"

I watched him as his face changed.

"Slow down. What are you saying?"

"No, that's fine. You can talk all you want. Tell me what happened."

"Do you want me to send some squad cars down there?"

"Okay. I won't hang up."

I listened to the whole, one-sided conversation. He looked up at me. "I'm going to send some squad cars over to her house," he said grimly."She says that's fine."

Alice pulled me closer to her. I bent down and whispered, "What?" Then I remembered she couldn't talk.

"What's happening?" Cynthia inquired. She had arrived halfway through Charlie's conversation.

"I'm not sure," I admitted. "It sounds like Rosalie's mother has locked her up somewhere. It sounds similar to what your parents did to Alice."

She grimaced guiltily. "Poor girl."

"Yeah," I agreed. Then I turned to Alice, trying to offer her what comfort I could. She turned into me and lay still, as if making sure to hold on to me.

Carlisle strode into the room, not seeing us tucked against the wall. He walked over to Charlie, and frowned, annoyed, when he saw Charlie on the phone.

"Carlisle!" I yelled. He looked over at me, and saw Alice sitting on my lap, her head buried in the side of my neck.

"Bella?" he said, sounding surprised. "Alice? How did this happen?"

"I took your advice," I grinned. "And it worked! How great is that?"

"That is really great," he smiled back at me. "Maybe..."

"What?" I asked, my curiosity piqued now. "Maybe what?"

"It's just a theory I came up with," he explained. "Alice went into her 'coma' when deep, emotional pain was inflicted on her. When she felt really strong, bad emotions- hate, hurt, jealousy, all those things. So it is my theory that when you kissed her, the positive emotions- happiness, contentment, stuff like that- brought her out."

"Really," I said thoughtfully. "So if the nurses had let me sleep over some more..."

"Very possibly," he agreed. "I'm glad to see you're awake, Alice."

Alice yawned against my neck, not looking at him. I think she was going to sleep. Not surprising, that. Cynthia was already asleep, lying uncomfortably against the hard floor.

"Well, I'll be going," he said, smiling at us. "Is there anything else you wanted to tell me?"

"We're going out!" I exclaimed wickedly. Alice yawned again, and snaked her arms around my waist. "Wait there Carlisle- I forgot about Rose!"

"What's happened to Rosalie?" Carlisle asked, alert now. "Is she hurt?"

"I think she is," I admitted. "Charlie's sending some police up to her house now, to try and see. Rose says that she can't see. She's hungry, and she hasn't been out of the room she's locked in for over a week."

Carlisle stared at me. "How could you forget that?" he asked disbelievingly. I pointed to Alice, and he flushed.

"Goodbye, Doctor Cullen," I said, waving him off. "I'll be fine here."

"I'll talk to you later," he said. "I wouldn't want to disturb your time with Alice, would I?"

"No, you wouldn't," I glared. "Go on, shoo."

He left. I laid my chin on Alice's head, hoping to go to sleep. I waited for Charlie to speak to me directly. I wanted to know what was happening with Rosalie.

* * *

**Some people are wondering what I'm planning to do with Cynthia. Honestly, I have no idea. Ideas, anyone?**

**Still looking for someone to look over my original story, so they can tell me what they think. Remember, PM me!**

**So, yeah. Read and Review! (Back on the stupid computer without Google Translate)**


	11. Drama

**Okay everyone, I'm back after another visit to my hospital. They're considering just engraving my name to the door, so they don't have to constantly remove and put back my name tag.**

**Yeah. I've lost my thumbdrive, so it's kind of hard to update now, seeing as I have to steal my mum's external hard-drive to update.**

**Well, anyway, I figured out why I've always disliked my writing. It's erratic; yes, that's the word. So I will try to be more focused from now on.**

**Just letting you know- I have exams for a few days, so be prepared for more slow updates. When they're done, I'll update fast again. Or should I just repeat year 11? It would make writing much easier, and put less stress on my body. I wouldn't have to deal with so many people then... What do you think? Stay healthy, write more, and repeat? I'd even be with people my own age then. Or stay sick, write less, and go through to Year 12 this year?**

* * *

"What's the situation now, Dad?" I asked quietly. Alice was sprawled over my lap, and I was playing with her hair. She was inhaling and exhaling regularly, her chest rising and falling to the rhythm. A small puddle of drool was collecting on my pants.

"The squad is almost at her house," he answered seriously. "Don't worry, Bella. I'm sure that Rosalie will be fine."

"You're absolutely sure?" I asked, my fingers massaging Alice's hair. Cynthia, laying sleeping at the other end of Charlie's bed, moaned, tossing.

"Relatively sure," he said, trying to deflect the question. "So, what are you going to do with Alice when she wakes up?"

It worked, too. "I'm not sure," I said, trying to speak softer. Cynthia was stirring on the bed. She would wake up soon. "I was going to ask you if Alice could move in with us, but I'm not sure how she would take that. A shift in environment, for a person in Alice's state of mind, could be devastating."

"Just so you know," Charlie said quietly. I didn't think he was trying not to wake Cynthia; I could tell this was just hard for him to handle. "I would have let her. I probably wouldn't have even put any restrictions on you."

"That's sweet, Dad," I said, smiling at him. "I'm sure we wouldn't have woken you too many times."

"And this topic is over," he grunted. "So, what are you going to do?"

"I'm really not sure," I confessed. "Maybe I could, you know, break my arm? Then, when it heals, break it again? Then I wouldn't be too far from her..."

"And how would Alice take that plane?" he asked.

"Damn," I swore. "You're right. She'd kill me. Well, I can't just keep living at your house. I need to be with her-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," he interrupted me, stopping my wild tumble of words. "You need to be with her? Already?"

I gave him a sheepish smile. "I've been gone from her for too long," I said, my eyes growing unfocused as I stared at the girl in question. She looked so fragile, vulnerable, drooling on my lap. "Then, just when Carlisle might have been able to get us together, we were taken apart again. I'm afraid that if I stay away from her for too long, then she might disappear again."

"She wouldn't do that," a sleepy voice said, coming from the direction of Charlie's bed. I jumped as I saw Cynthia stretching. "You might not realize it, but Alice needs you at least as much as you say you need her. Probably a lot more."

"And there's my problem," I pointed out. "Now if I leave, I'll be hurting both myself and her. And I just can't do that to her, Cynthia."

"I'm sure you couldn't," she said, sounding amused. "How about you try to get her to move in with you?"

"I've already discussed this with Charlie," I grunted. "If I do that, then when Alice wakes up and sees something this unfamiliar, she might freak out and disappear again."

"Well, then," Cynthia smirked. "I guess you'll just have to make sure that you're the first thing she sees every morning. That'll fix that, won't it?"

On my lap, Alice sighed a little and wriggled around, moving closer to me. This also placed her head directly above _that_ place. I fidgeted uncomfortably, liking Alice's position, but unsure if she should do that in public. And, of course, now I had to try to not rape my girlfriend in her sleep.

Cynthia smirked, seeing me fidget. "What's the matter?" she teased. "Do you want to move slowly with your new girlfriend?"

I grunted. "If you'll excuse me," I growled at her. "I need to use my concentration to not rape my girlfriend in her sleep."

She giggled again. "I'm sure she wouldn't mind," she laughed. "I know I wouldn't, if I could ignore that my sister would be the one doing it."

I blushed. "Cynthia!" I complained. "Not really helping!"

Cynthia laughed even harder. "I don't think Alice would really mind," she said between fits. "Sure, she might be a bit surprised, but I'm thinking she'd get in the mood pretty quick. And the doctors would like it."

A mental picture popped up, and I nearly vomited at the thought of having a guy's wang anywhere near me. And almost vomited again at using the word 'wang', even in my own head.

"And this discussion is over," Cynthia announced. "So, how's the situation with Rosalie, Charlie?"

On my lap, I felt Alice stir. She shoved her face deeper into me, yawning, and I tried not to moan. A small one escaped me, but I was fairly sure Charlie covered it up. Then she sat up, flushing as she realized where her head had been.

"Hey, Alice," I winked at her. "Have a good sleep there?"

She looked at me with wide eyes. Now I flushed, thinking that perhaps I had been too forwards.

"I'm sorry," I quickly apologized. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, or anything like that. Well, anyway, I'm really sorry. Please don't hate me-"

I was cut off as Alice placed her lips on mine. I relaxed, gently leaning into the kiss. I was tender with her, perhaps subconsciously thinking that she was breakable. She certainly looked fragile to me, like a little porcelain doll.

Cynthia laughed from the bed. "Told you so," she claimed. "Alice won't hate you."

Alice nodded her head as she pulled her head away. I looked at her questioningly. The effect of this was spoiled when Carlisle walked in, effectively spoiling the moment,

"Doctor Cullen," he said, nodding his head. "I have a question to ask you."

Carlisle stood up, finished with the quick checking of the clipboard attached to the end of his bed. "Yes, Charlie?" he asked.

"Would a change in environment really affect Alice badly?" he asked. Both mine and Alice's head snapped towards him, frozen.

The doctor coughed uncomfortably. "I don't believe so," he answered formally. "However, I have been unable to convince your daughter to believe me."

"So," Charlie clarified, "It should be perfectly safe to have Alice move in with us?"

Carlisle looked sadly at him. "Would I be able to make myself comfortable here?": he asked, indicating a spare seat in the hallway. Charlie nodded, and the doctor pulled one up.

"I'm not exactly one-hundred percent sure," Doctor Cullen began. "However, the chances are that if Alice did move in with you, then even if Alice does undergo some psychological challenges, Bella should be able to help her through them."

Charlie coughed. "So it would be alright for Alice to move in with us?"

"I'm sure that would be fine," Carlisle answered him. "Of course, you're lucky that Alice's parents made me her foster-father when they could no longer stand the sight of her. You can just consider this as... an extended sleepover. That avoids all the messy paperwork. And when Alice turns eighteen, she's free to go."

"Hear that, Alice?" I asked her quietly. "You can move in with me!"

Alice blushed. Her hands automatically went to the waist of her pants, before she remembered that she didn't have her notebook anymore.

A voice blared over Charlie's phone. It had been on all this time, but this was the first time I had really heard it.

"Please send backup. An officer has been shot. I repeat, please send backup. An officer has been shot. The wielder of the gun appears to be a middle-aged woman, possibly with blonde hair. She is moving quickly. Please send backup."

I looked at Charlie. He was looking at me with a horrified expression.

"Don't move, Dad," I said to him. "Come on, Alice, Cynthia. Are you coming?"

"And where are you going?" Charlie said threateningly. "You're certainly not going over to that house, Bella. An officer was just shot there, for fuck's sake!"

"See you later, Dad," I said, walking out. Alice trailed along behind me, staying as close as she could. Cynthia was following a bit behind us.

The Ford started as smoothly as it always did. I put it in gear and accelerated out of the parking lot, letting the car go as fast as it could towards Rosalie's house. The insane speed shortened the distance- we made it there in record time.

"So this is Rosalie's house," Cynthia said admiringly. "Nice."

I laughed, pulling Alice up the driveway. She stumbled willingly along behind me, seeming to not want me to get too far away.

"Stay here," I told them both sternly as we neared the place where the police were. "I should be able to get there from here."

I took a deep breath and bolted from where I was standing, leaping over a police car. A cop shouted angrily behind me, but I was already most of the way there. The door seemed to be further away than I remembered it to be, but it was still in reach. It wasn't locked; looking down, I saw small splatters of blood.

"Hello?" I called nervously into the house, panting between my words. "Is anyone. Here?"

"And would that be Bella?" Rosalie's mother said, walking out from one of the side rooms. I forgot which one it was.

"Yes, I am," I said cautiously. I flinched as she drew in another deep breath. I saw the small orange glow of a cigarette, and I found myself wishing I had a- No.

"That's good, dear," she said. "So much more convenient when the ones you want to kill come to me."

"True," I agreed. "But what if they don't want to be killed?" What inane banter.

"Then that's too bad, isn't it?" she said conversationally. "You know, you don't really seem to-"

I launched myself at her, flying across the few meters left between us. There was a bang, and I felt a searing pain in my left shoulder, before I cannoned into the woman. She flew backwards and hit a wall, crumpling to the ground, unconscious.

I looked down at myself, noting the blood stains on my shirt. "Always the left shoulder," I said drowsily. Then I said no more as I collapsed to the floor, most of me twitching. My left arm didn't move at all.

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**Hehehe, always the left shoulder... It's always my right. I'm going to lose use of it soon...**

**Now, everyone. Don't hate me for what I've done to Bella now, or for what I've done to Rosalie next chapter. Everything will get better.**

**I have a special love interest planned for Rosalie. Rosalie will NOT end up with Cynthia; so what ideas can you come up with for her now?**

**Well, yeah. Don't forget, if you like this story, I have others.**

**Take a look at my profile for me, will ya's? I have a few stories planned on there. Tell me what you think of them, and I might start writing them early!**

**Ler e revisión! Or, as the English say it, Read and Review!  
**


	12. Hospital Again

**Gleeb.**

**Okay. Just so you know, for this chapter, I have deviated from the norm, and written it from Alice's POV. I remembered that someone had asked for it- congratulations, PureWiings. You got your wish. I'd dedicate this chapter to ya, but I'm too lazy to type the words. Even though my explanation for that took more words, hahaha- and it made more sense to write it from hers.**

**Originally, I was going to have a slew of updates for ye- but then I realized it would probably confuse too many people. So instead, I'll return to my usual update speed for a while, and I might post the next chapter in approximately 7 hours, a bit after midnight. Make sure to review before then, because if you don't like it and you don't tell me an hour before then, I won't have enough time to rewrite it.**

**Well, does anyone want me to dedicate the next chapter to them? Hahaha, I just might, if you ask nicely enough. Don't want to seem desperate where people can see? Try PMing me.**

**And I apologize in advance if it sucks. Just make sure to tell me!**

**Gleeb.**

**Stupid gleeb, it's a habit I've picked up, and I can't be bothered deleting them. Sorry for my laziness! Just ignore them!**

**And hey, check out my profile. There's a bunch of new stuff on there- stuff about me, including an Alice/Bella quote nobody else seems to have picked up on. Yes, it's real, even though it may seem fake. I typed it as I read it aloud.**

* * *

There was a loud bang, that I could hear even from back here. I was afraid to know what it was; it sounded like the gunshot sound that they always used in old movies, like me and Rosalie used to watch. Before me and Bella hooked up.

"What was that?" Cynthia asked, clutching onto my arm. "That sounded like..."

I understood why she didn't want to say it. Although, it made less sense for her than it did for me. After all, I was the one who was currently- or so I thought- dating Bella. I really should ask her if we are dating or not. It's just awkward.

"Gunshot!" a cop yelled. Cynthia's grip tightened on my arm; I winced, wishing I could tell her to get off me. I clawed her arm lightly.

"Sorry!" she exclaimed, blushing lightly. "Didn't mean to hurt you!"

I breathed a sigh of relief when she let go. An inaudible sigh, same as every sound I made, but a sigh nonetheless.

Two police officers rushed up from their blockade thingy, where they had parked their cars. They hesitated at the front door, calling something. I couldn't make out the words.

Apparently, they weren't looking for an answer, because there was no sound, but they nodded and walked in, guns at the ready. I watched impatiently, waiting to see whether Bella would be alright.

Something crackled over the radio of the cop standing next to me. I was so focused on the doorway that I didn't hear it, but another of the cops motioned for some doctors to go into the house. I actually jumped when the doctors entered my line of sight.

My breath caught as they went inside. Several minutes later, with me holding my breath the entire time- I nearly passed out- they walked back out, holding two prone forms. One had long, flowing blonde hair; I guessed that was Rosalie's mother. And the other had the beautiful, brown hair that I remembered from my dreams every night...

Bella! I tried to run forwards, but the cop grabbed my arm and wouldn't let go. Not for the first time in my life, I cursed the fact that I couldn't speak. I simply uselessly struggled against his grip.

Until, of course, Cynthia pummeled into his back. He staggered forwards, and released his grip on my arm. I took off, not giving him the chance to stop me again.

Bella was lying completely unconscious in the doctor's strong grip. There was blood pumping out of a wound in her shoulder; I guessed that was the gunshot I had heard earlier.

My breath came quicker in fear, and I grabbed her hand, not caring what the doctors thought. Never before in my life had I wished I could speak this badly. I wanted to reassure her, to let her know I was here. I wanted to be there for her.

I was startled when the first tear splashed against Bella's cheek. I sniffed, one of the only sounds I could make that were audible; they didn't require me to use my throat to make the sound. More tears fell, some landing on her, some landing around her. She was unconscious already. If I lost her again, I didn't know what I would do...

We eventually made it to the ambulance. One of the doctors held his arm out to stop me. "You're going to have to say please," he said cheerily. Damn it.

I gestured to my throat, hoping to make him understand. He looked vaguely confused. Growling to myself, I pulled the notebook out of my pocket and scrawled a message. _Please?_

"Why didn't you just say so?" he said, scratching his head. I facepalmed myself, sighing again.

_Because I'm a mute._

Understanding dawned on him, along with embarrassment. "Oh," he said, looking at me nervously. "I get it now. What exactly is your relation with the patient?"

Uh-oh. What if this doctor was one of those people who hated gays? A homophobe, I think they're called? He wouldn't let me on the ambulance then!

Ah, well. If he wouldn't, I could always just meet her at the hospital. Surely Carlisle would let me. It would only be a five minute trip, anyway. But, that was five minutes that I could spend with Bella, being there for her.

_I'm her girlfriend._

Now he looked vaguely uneasy. "Look, kid," he said, taking a small step back. "You should know that I can't let you in the ambulance with her now."

I glared at him, not even looking as my hand flew across the paper. _Why not?_

"It's against hospital policy," he said, taking another small step backwards as my eyes narrowed. "I've got nothing against... You people," he said, lifting his hands up as if to protect himself. "We're just only allowed to let family members in the ambulance with patients!"

_Make an exception!_ I raised a fist at him. Certainly, my fists would do nothing to him, but maybe if I broke a wrist punching him, then Bella would knock him out for us when she woke up. She could do it, I was sure.

"I'm sorry!" he said, looking at me with pleading eyes. "But that's more than my job is worth! I have a family I'm looking after, a wife and two kids! I've really got nothing against gay people! Seriously! One of my daughters is gay!"

I hesitated, less willing to break myself on him now. After hearing that, I wasn't so keen on making him let me in the ambulance. After all, it was only for five minutes, and then I could stay with her in the hospital... No! I would never leave her again!

I glared at him again, raising my fist. He took another step back. That was when an idea struck me. A stupid idea, to be sure, but an idea nonetheless.

My fist smashed out, punching him in the stomach. He exhaled softly; it looked like I had done nothing to him. I held up my now-broken wrist to him, smiled sweetly, and climbed into the ambulance with Bella. Now I was a patient, too.

"What the hell-" I heard him say, startled, as he walked around the side of the ambulance. I looked behind me, and saw more police officers heading into the house. Hopefully, they were getting Rosalie out. She was claustrophobic!

The hospital ride was short, but I clutched Bella's hand with my good hand as we drove there. When we goth there, the doctors pulled me away from Bella and rushed her out. I climbed out slowly, to be met by a frowning Carlisle.

"How did you get in there?" he asked, pointing at the ambulance. I held up my wrist for evidence. I couldn't write left-handed, so I couldn't tell him what I had done. Hopefully, he would understand.

"Did you do that on purpose?" he asked. I grinned and nodded, proud of myself. Not many people would have the nerve to break their wrist, just so they could have five minutes more with their girlfriend. I, on the other hand, would do the same for a lot less.

"You are crazy," he said, shaking his head ruefully. "I'm not on emergency today. How about we go and fix up this wrist while they're tending to Bella? By the time we're done, they should be finished with Bella, and you can go see her."

I thought about it, and nodded. The pain hadn't hit yet, or I would probably be calling myself an idiot for ever thinking of this plan, but with morphine in me, surely there would be no way that I could feel the pain for hours.

It took over an hour to get everything done; he poled and prodded me, he took X-rays of my wrist, he numbed it with ice, he wrapped it up with bandages, and other stuff I didn't recognize. My wrist seemed to be gone by the time he was done. I stared at the white mass that was remaining.

"Aren't you going to go see Bella?" he asked, grinning at me. He was proud of his work, too. I loved it that he was.

_How is she?_ I gave this note to the first doctor who walked out, hoping that he would actually recognize me and tell me.

"She should be mostly fine," he said, grimacing at me. What was his problem? Was he a homophobe, or was he just tired? "But the gunshot re-tore the muscles and bones in that shoulder. She's going to have to undergo more extensive physical therapy this time, rather than the quick treatment she got last time."

_Thanks._

"N problem," he said, looking straight at me. "Look, here's the deal. I happen to know this girl's father. He happens to be upstairs right now. I am gong to go upstairs and tell him that his daughter has been shot. And then I am going to tell him that there was a girl who broke her wrist to stay with her for the ambulance ride."

_Tell him my name is Alice. He knows me._

"He knows you, does he?" he said, arching an eyebrow in surprise. "And does he know the exact nature of your relationship with his daughter?"

I nodded at him, grinning widely. It was an effort; I really didn't like this man. Why would he threaten to tell Charlie? I hadn't done anything!

He tightened his lips in disgust again. "So he knows the relationship between you two. Has he kicked his daughter out of the house yet?"

My unbroken hand rocketed up and slapped him. His lip split, and his mouth started to fill with blood. He looked at me with astonishment.

"I think that means you should go." I recognized that voice. I hadn't heard it in forever!

_Rosalie!_ I shouted mentally, throwing my arms around her. She staggered back, taken aback by my enthusiastic greeting.

"Hey, Alice." Cynthia was standing a bit behind Rosalie, hanging back so she didn't get caught in the moment. I pouted, and let go of Rosalie.

"I'm sorry," Rosalie said to me. "I really didn't mean to hurt you like that-"

I narrowed my eyes at her. I had forgotten that she was the one who had tried to steal Bella away from me.

"Really, I am sorry!" she protested, waving her arms vaguely at me. "But don't worry, I'm going to find myself a new girlfriend. I'll leave you and Bella alone, so I don't get in the way."

"Awesome," Cynthia said behind her. "Now, tell me what the hell you mean by that."

Rosalie glared at her. "I haven't forgotten about you," she said, mock-sounding angry. "You are the reason I was locked away like that!"

I took another look at Rosalie, and paled when I saw the differences. The dark bruises that we had once both shared were still there under her eyes, showing her insomnia. Mine were beginning to look like that again. It was hard to keep from Bella, but I managed.

Her face was even paler than I was used to. It looked like she had smeared white paint over her face, hoping to make her look like a giant white marshmallow.

"I know," Rosalie said quietly. "I look horrible. I probably smell worse, too."

I leaned in and sniffed her. She was right; she did smell worse than she looked. I held my nose and nodded at her. The smell was really that bad.

She gave me a pained look. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I'm going to have a shower soon. The doctors just want to check me over, see if there's anything wrong with me first."

What a stupid thing to do. From here, even I could tell there was something wrong with her. She looked as if she had starved herself for a week-

No. She hadn't starved herself for a week, her mother had starved her. But she was still skinny, and pale, and looked as if she had slept for about four hours the past week. Her eyes didn't sink back- neither did mine- and for that we were lucky, but she looked extremely sick.

Cynthia laughed nervously. "I think the doctor is coming for you," she said, moving to hide behind me. I looked up, and saw it was the same one I had broken my wrist on.

"So, I see you got your wrist fixed up," he said, smiling at me encouragingly. "My daughter says she would like to meet you."

Rosalie looked up, looking interested now. "And would your daughter happen to be here today?" she asked, sounding as if she would like to meet this girl.

"Of course," he said, laughing at her privately. "She's just upstairs. And who might you be?"

"I am Rosalie Hale," she said, drawing herself up haughtily. "I was the one locked up in the house Bella was shot at."

"Nice to meet you, Miss Hale," he said pleasantly, holding out his hand. "I am Doctor Denali."

* * *

**Okay. Just so people don't start harassing me, I'm going to provide an explanation as to why I'm only updating this story.**

**When I passed out a week ago, I hit my head. Since then, my memories of the past few weeks have been fuzzy. They're slowly getting stronger again, but it could be up to two more weeks before I fully regain them. Somewhere in them, I've lost my inspiration for Fallen Angel and Relentless Pursuit. My memories are still there for approximately a day after I posted the first chapter of Empty Memories, so I still have my inspiration for it, but I've lost the buzz of the other two. I can remember what inspired me, but I don't have that inspiration for them. When I regain it, I'll start posting again. Sorry.**

Yeah. My stupid **friend flaked on me- we were going to co-write one of my stories, which I've decided to call Forever Dusk- my Breaking Dawn story. Yeah, it's a lame idea, I know, but whatever. I really don't care. So, I guess that idea's off for a while, until another of my friends comes**** thr****ough. So don't hold your breath, this could take over a month. And why isn't this bolding anymore?**

**Skaityti ir peržiūra! Or, as the English say, Read and Review!  
**


	13. Damn, Interrupted Again

**Gleeb. My longest ever chapter; 3113 words, without the author's note. Awesome! Congratulations, me!**

**I've stuffed up my average reviews, I have, I have. Only one person managed to review me before I posted this D: Poor me, I no longer have an average of 11... You guys had better make it up to me...**

**Seriously. Do review. hahaha, I even welcome flames!**

**Yeah. We're back to Bella's POV, okay? And to anyone who's confused, I posted another chapter a few hours ago. Just in case, 'kay? Read the Author's notes there, too.**

* * *

The only thing I was aware of when I looked up at the ceiling, my eyes finally opened, was a slight pain in my left shoulder. I tried to lift my left arm so I could see. It simply spasmed, moving randomly.

"Hey, Bella," a not-really-familiar voice said somewhere in the room. I recognized it as Cynthia's. "How ya doin'?"

"I'm alright." My voice sounded hoarse to me, as if I hadn't spoken in a while. Why did I sound like that? Why was my body stiff, as if I hadn't moved in days?

Someone shifted next to me, and warmth pressed into my right side. I turned, and was confronted with the face of a sleeping Alice. She was snoring lightly, the sound whistling through her nose. A thin trail of drool trickled down the side of her mouth. Chuckling to myself, I decided it was time for her to wake up. I kissed her lightly, not taking advantage of her open mouth by slipping my tongue in.

She wriggled a little, and her arms moved around me. She was still snoring as she pressed herself tighter against me. She was much more forward asleep than awake.

I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her in a bit closer. My lips pressed against hers, holding myself there for longer this time. She still didn't wake up; I could even still hear her snoring, so I knew she wasn't faking it. And that was vain, anyway.

I looked apologetically at Cynthia, trying to convey my regrets for what I was about to do in front of her without making a sound. This would be fun for me, but I'm sure that no-one wanted to see their sister in the position I was about to put her in.

She pressed herself even tighter against me. I moved away slightly. This would be impossible that close. My fingers slid up the inside of her shirt, deliberately not brushing against her skin in case that woke her up in advance. Taking a deep breath, my fingers got in the right position.

This was what I thought Cynthia shouldn't see. I bent my head down and kissed her again, my tongue this time slipping inside her mouth. At the same time, my fingers closed around on of her breasts, feeling her through her bra. For a prank, this was very erotic.

Her reaction was funny. Her eyes shot open, her chest leaned into my touch, but the rest of her recoiled in shock Her lower body and her head shot off the bed, twisting as her legs swung further. She ended up on the floor, her shirt tucked up to reveal part of her bra, and she was scowling at me as she picked herself up off the floor and tucked herself into my side again, her head resting on my shoulder.

"Sorry," I apologized, my hand coming up to massage her scalp. She drew her head back again, letting me see her glare, before she slammed her head back into my shoulder. I winced as pain shot through me; curiously, though my whole body still felt alive from the prank, my left arm was still jerky, as if I had lost use of it again...

"Why does my arm feel panicky?" I asked, my voice shrill, as I looked at my little pixie in panic. "Didn't my arm get better easily? I thought it was healed!"

"The gunshot tore your muscles and bone again," Cynthia reported.

My body stiffened at the word 'gunshot'. Alice looked at me reassuringly. Nice to know my panic had had at least one good effect; Alice appeared to have forgiven me.

"Rosalie," I said, my voice quiet. "Where is she?"

Alice smirked, and Cynthia sniggered. "Would she still be in the janitor's closet?" she said aloud, as if asking herself. "Or do you think she and Tanya moved to a storage room yet?"

I was missing something. "Who's Tanya?" I asked, looking at the girl.

"Tanya Delani," Cynthia said. "She's the daughter of one of the doctors who treated you. The doctor kindly brought her in as proof to Alice that he wasn't homophobic. Your Rosalie took a liking to her, as you might have gathered."

"Not my Rosalie," I corrected her absently. "My Alice."

Alice froze next to me, as if uncertain of herself after hearing that. I watched as a huge grin spread across her face, and she pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. I returned it with slightly less enthusiasm, but only slightly; I liked the feel of Alice pressing into me.

"And this room is now a lot less comfortable than when you were asleep," Cynthia announced. "It's kind of disgusting to see you two making out like this."

"Making out?" I protested. "We're not even kissing!"

"No, but you were before," she pointed out. "And I suppose, technically, you're right. But seeing you with your hand up my sister's shirt? That was too much."

How did she not notice the death-glare Alice was giving her?  
"I think you upset Alice," a familiar voice said. I looked at the door, hoping it was who I thought it was. And indeed, Rosalie stood there, with another girl standing behind her, her arms wrapped around Rosalie. I noticed the other bruises on Rosalie's neck at the same time I saw the strawberry blonde's head at the crook of Rosalie's neck.

Cynthia gave Alice a startled look. "But all I said was I didn't like seeing Bella with her hand up my sister's shirt!" she protested. Yes, nothing at all.

"Bella had her hand up Alice's shirt?" Rosalie asked, sounding really disappointed. "How could I have missed that? That would have been awesome!" That comment earned her a startled look from Alice and a smack across the back of her head by Tanya.

I smirked at her. "It went something like this," I said, and slid my hand up my girlfriend's shirt again. My hand cupped her left breast, my fingers sliding over the material. Alice's jaw was hanging slightly open, and her eyes were glassy. At least she didn't fall off the bed this time; although, this time, she wasn't waking up and finding that she had a girl's tongue sliding around in her mouth.

"Awesome," Rosalie said, watching the bulge in Alice's shirt eagerly. "Can't say I'm upset." Tanya smacked her again, but Alice didn't respond this time.

"Uncomfortable," Cynthia said softly in a sing-song voice. I snickered.

"Maybe you should stop," Rosalie said, her interest getting more avid as I slid one finger slightly under the material of her bra, the action pulling down the neck of her homemade shirt so Rosalie could see what I was doing. "Before Tanya knocks my head off."

I snickered again, picturing that. It was a funny picture. Did I really want to move my hand away? The position was quite uncomfortable- it would be nearly impossible to kiss her from here- but on the other hand, I was playing with Alice's breast.

Then my fingers brushed against something hard through the material of her bra, and I blushed. No, I didn't want to remove my hand; but I didn't want anyone seeing what I was going to do next. Bending down, I moved her shirt back up with my teeth so no-one could see what I was doing, and I pulled the material of her bra down, comfortable with playing with her like this in a public place. Just to be sure, however, I pulled my blanket over is. Rosalie moaned in disappointment, and Tanya smacked her again, even harder.

"And, I'm gone," Cynthia announced. "I can see exactly what you did there, and I'm going to get away before you take off all her clothes."

"You're going to take off all your clothes?" Rosalie gasped, leaning towards us. Tanya lifted her head, and I could see the disapproval there.

"Try doing this to her," I suggested. "That might take her mind off us."

Tanya smirked at me. "I might just do that, you know," she drawled at me. "Are you really sure you want to see that?"

I looked at Alice next to me, and all thoughts bar one were knocked out of my head; had she passed out there? She certainly looked it. I removed my hand. A quick check confirmed that she was awake, but appeared to be coming down from a state if ecstasy.

"Jeez," I muttered. "Didn't know I was that good in bed."

Tanya chuckled. "Wouldn't mind finding out," she said, waggling her eyebrows at me. Rosalie turned to her and grinned devilishly, before smacking the back of her head.

Alice had returned to a mostly normal behavior. I kissed the top of her head. "Sorry about that," I murmured into her ear. "You just feel so good." She really did- I was getting wet again just remembering how she had felt, the silky smoothness of her breast, the way her hard nipple felt when I ran my hand over it... I wondered what her nipple would taste like. It felt like a small piece of candy; would it taste sweet?

"Are you a virgin?" I asked suddenly, struck by a thought. Alice may have not been my first kiss, but she certainly would be my first- I blushed as I scrambled to stop thinking.

"She is," Rosalie confirmed for her. I squinted at her, passing my gaze between Rosalie and the girl in question, who was looking at me strangely. "You might have even been her first kiss, but I'm not sure about that."

Alice nodded her head, blushing at the statement. I laughed. "Was I really?" I asked.

She looked hurt, staring at me with innocent eyes. I laughed again, and bent my head ti hers. "We've got to make up for lost time then," I said to her. "Hadn't we?"

But of course, she couldn't reply. She wouldn't have been able to, even if she wasn't mute. Our lips were occupied suddenly.

"This is so hot," Rosalie said, leaning in for a better look. "You-" Her words cut off with a squeal as Tanya roughly threw her hands up Rosalie's shirt. I moaned against Alice's mouth. She was doing that incredibly erotic little exhale thing, which I always assumed to be her equivalent of a moan.

And, of course, Carlisle and Cynthia both walked in at that exact second. They found Rosalie pushed up against a wall, with a blonde roughly cupping her breasts, her bra discarded on the ground next to them. Alice was laying with me on top of each other, my hands clutching at her hair, her shirt hiked above her bellybutton.

"Well," Carlisle said, amused. "I don't suppose you have a video camera on you, do you, Cynthia? This would make great blackmail material."

I jumped off Alice at that moment. My left arm still didn't work properly. I could tell it wouldn't for some time. Rosalie, on the other hand, just leaned into Tanya's touch and said, "That'd be great, Doc. Really give me something to masturbate over."

Cynthia snickered again. Alice leaned over to me and put her face into my neck. Carlisle looked at her incredulously. "Then I'd have to blackmail you with a video of that," he said finally, trying not to appear weirded out.

"I'd probably get off on that, too," she said, shrugging. "I get off easy. Just ask Tanya, she knows. Or she should, after this morning. Now that would have been blackmail."

"Too much information," he groaned. "Actually, it was too much information when I walked in and saw that." He gestured at the two of them.

"Just doing my job, sir," Tanya said, looking away from Rosalie. "Just be glad you walked in when you did, or it wouldn't have been my hands."

Cynthia laughed openly at hearing that. Carlisle looked like he was going to be sick. Hmmm, looked like he didn't get off on lesbians, like most guys do.

"That was a bit too much information," I told her. "But you are lucky, Carlisle. Another minute, and me and Alice would have been in a more compromising position, too."

"Really," Rosalie said wickedly. "Why'd you have to walk in then, Carlisle?"

I had to make sure, now. "Hey, Rose," I said, looking over at her. "You aren't hung up on me or Alice, are you?" I hoped she would say no. Although, if she did say yes... A foursome would be kinky. I wondered if Alice would say yes?

"A little bit," Rose admitted. "Not so much on Alice, though I wouldn't have minded. More on you. But I'm more hung up on Tanya at the moment."

"Foursome," Tanya said, stroking Rosalie's pants. My eyes widened, and I knew it was lucky Carlisle and Cynthia were looking at me. I blushed, knowing that Alice had to have heard that, even buried in my neck as she was.

"Kinky," Rosalie said. I blushed even harder.

"No foursomes," I said firmly. "Alice would never agree." They both gave me a startled glance, as if they were startled at my implication that I _would_ agree.

"Ask her," Tanya suggested. "I wouldn't mind-"

"Stop!" Cynthia yelled. "I really don't need to hear all this!"

"- to have her in the sack," Tanya finished.

Alice silently snickered in my neck. I stroked her short hair. "No foursomes," I said, silently thinking small regrets. That would be interesting, but... "I'm not going to share Alice, even for a little while. Not even with you, Rose."

"Awww," Rosalie drawled. "Do I mean that much to ya?"

Even though she had intended for that to be sarcastic, I thought about it. Sadly enough, this dirty-minded girl, who had admitted that she would masturbate to a movie of herself doing just that, and was hung up on me- and my girlfriend, a little- was my best friend.

"If you guys keep giving me these mental pictures, I'm going to go home," Cynthia threatened. "I don't need to think about my sister like that!"

"Hey, Cynthia," Tanya piped up. "Are you gay or bi?"

Wow. Random enough?

"I'm bi, but I lean towards gay," she admitted. "Usually, I just introduce myself as gay."

"Have you ever kissed a girl?" Tanya pressed. What the hell? I shook my head.

"Of course," she said defensively. "What would make you think I hadn't?"

"Would you kiss Rosalie?" she pressed. Now I was thoroughly confused. What did this have to do with anything?

"Maybe," Cynthia said. "But I don't see Rose that way."

"That's good," Tanya said, sounding relieved. Now I understood; Tanya was just insecure. A bit like Alice and myself, but in a different way.

"And why did I come in here?" Carlisle asked, sounding actually puzzled. "Ah, that's right. Bella, how is your-"

He was knocked, sprawling, to the ground as a man and woman walked in.

The man looked around at us furiously. His eyes passed over us all without any sign of recognition until his eyes landed on Cynthia.

"Cynthia Esme Brandon!" he roared sharply at her. "What are you doing here?"

The woman, who, now that I thought about it looked a bit like a horse, stared at Cynthia. "Get over here, Esme," she commanded.

Alice was looking at the two, her face pale. I understood.

"You must be their parents," I said coldly. "What the _HELL_ do you think you're doing, barging into a hospital room, with a sick person in it, knocking over the doctor, and then thinking that you can push everyone in it around?"

Her father looked at me coldly. "This is none of your business," he said dismissively. "Stay out of my family's matters."

Now, that pissed me off. "How's about this, then?" I asked him sweetly. "As far as you are concerned, I am your daughter's girlfriend. Her family is my family, the same as mine is hers. So guess what? I'm staying in."

"You are seeing this girl?" he asked Cynthia, sounding thunderously.

"No," I said. The way they totally ignored Alice... It was like they didn't even recognize her. And that pissed me off beyond belief. "I am Alice's girlfriend."

"I have no daughter named Alice," he stated, trying to stare me down. That was the worst possible thing he could have said.

I had lost some of my muscles, after months of not going to fencing practice, but for those same months, I had been carrying Alice around for near an hour each day. I had lost some, but not enough to protect him when I punched him as hard as I could in the gut. He dropped to my feet, gasping for breath.

"Your daughter happens to be lying on my bed," I hissed venomously at him. "You will never again say anything of the kind about her, or I will take you to court for child negligence."

And that threat seemed to get to them.

"Now, get out of my hospital room," I snarled. "Cynthia, you can stay if you want. But you two can get out. I am recovering from a gunshot wound, and I don't need two fucktards messing that up for e." I didn't wait to see if they left, but turned back to Alice.

My girlfriend was laying passed out on the bed. That second, I truly hated the two people who hadn't raised her. I wheeled back; if they had been there, I really thought I would have killed them. Luckily for them, they were gone.

"Thanks for helping me out there, Bella," Cynthia muttered quietly. "I think I'd better go, anyway. They're gonna be mad at you. I don't think Alice will ever be welcome back."

"After what they did to her, I wouldn't let them back in Alice's life, even if she paid me a million dollars to," I snarled. "No-one hurts _MY_ Alice like that. No-one."

* * *

**Hehehe, I felt guilty for taking Esme away from Carlisle in my other story, SBE. And I needed something to do with Cynthia. Who else could have come up with a twist like this, eh? I'm actually surprised I thought of it, but that's just me, and my mind works like that.**

**Do you like how Bella handles the father? Yeah, I modelled that after something I've done before, although that was just for a friend, and I hit him lower than the gut, hahaha.**

**Yeah. As I'm going to say regularly now, check my profile. I update it all the time! You might see something you like there... Such as my Breaking Dawn quote, I'm so proud of me...**

**Läs och granskning! Or, as the English say it, Read and Review! Hopefully more than one person, today...  
**


	14. School Again

**Okay everyone. I have skipped ahead a bit in the story, and there are a few things that may confuse you. I have done this on purpose, okay? Everything will be explained in time. There is a reason for it.**

**Hmmm. If I can get 20 reviews for the next chapter, I will be back up to my average of 11 per chapter. Wanna help a guy out, anyone? **

* * *

I silently put on my clothes, a simple green-and-brown ensemble. The temptation to sneak into the bathroom and watch Alice getting dressed was almost too hard to resist, but resist I had to, or we would be late. I wouldn't be able to help myself.

My schoolbag, with my laptop in it, sat next to me on the bed. I picked it up, swung it over my shoulders, and walked down to the kitchens, where Charlie awaited me, holding a packet of cereal in one hand, and his gun in the other.

"What did the cereal do today?" I asked, opening the cupboard and pulling out a bowl.

"It looked at me funny," he said with a straight face. "Do you want some?"

"Lead's bad for your health," I replied. I was finding it harder than Charlie to keep a straight face. "I'm not going to eat it before five."

"Good girl," he said affectionately. "Don't forget to wait 'til you're legal, too."

"So can I have it?" I asked, referring to the cereal. He handed it to me, and I poured some for myself. There was a small bowl of fruit waiting for Alice- along with a bottle of vitamins and such that the doctors at the hospital had prescribed.

"Sure," he said, passing it to me. "Hey, what did Alice put on her sandwich?"

I laughed. "What else? Watermelon!" That was her favourite food, now, ever since I had fed her a plateful of the stuff when she had moved in, after her parents refused to pay the hospital bills anymore. Luckily, Carlisle had already agreed, so here we were.

He laughed with me. "That girl," he said, shaking his head. He seemed to have taken to Alice as a second daughter. A second daughter who might one day be in truth.

I closed my eyes as I took a spoonful of the cereal and ate it dry. When I opened them again, I found Alice standing in front of me, grinning wickedly.

"Uh-oh," I said, spraying cereal over her face. "What are you doing?"

Of course, she couldn't tell me. Sometimes, it was so inconvenient that my girlfriend was a mute. Of course, sometimes- usually late at night- that was a godsend.

"You two nearly ready?" he asked. "School starts in about ten minutes."

I dropped the bowl of cereal, letting the plastic bowl bounce and the cereal fall over the floor. Without a word, I grabbed Alice's wrist, and an apple, and ran out the door, leaving him to yell, "I'm not cleaning that up, Bella!"

"You nervous?" I asked Alice, as I started up the car. My left arm was more responsive than it had been the day that Alice's parents had run off with Cynthia. "I am."

_Rosalie will be there._

"I know that," I said, pretending to be irritated. "Pf course I know that. Um."

We drove the rest of the way in silence. Charlie had lied, stupid man. I made a mental note to smack him when I got home; we still had more than twenty minutes. Irritated, I walked hand-in-hand with Alice to where me and my friends hung out last year.

Today, only Angela was there. I guessed the others would turn up.

"Bella?" Angela said in disbelief. "I haven't seen you in forever! Where've you been?"

"I've been busy," I said, affectionately petting Alice. "I guess you got the rest."

"You're not stoned!" she exclaimed, sounding even more surprised. "What the hell-"

"Yeah," I muttered, embarrassed. "Alice here doesn't like it, so I stopped."

That was the first time Angela seemed to notice Alice. "And who is this?" she said, staring at my pixie. She looked... Smitten. Could you look smitten? Angela did.

"Back off," I warned her. "This is Alice, my girlfriend. She is not on the market."

"Damn," she swore. "This one's cute, too. Well, why have you been gone for half a year?"

I coughed. "Well, for the last part of last year, I was in hospital, recovering from a gunshot to the shoulder. Does that help?"

"Jessica's going to be mad," Angela said pompously. "You know she's very protective of you. Whoever shot you is going to be in a lot of trouble."

Nobody but me ever seemed to notice these looks Alice gave people.

"Sit down," she invited us. "It's nice here."

I sat down in the shade of the tree, letting the cool breeze flow over me. Alice lay next to me, her head on my lap. This was our favourite position. Well, apart from laying next to each other at night, but still. That was a private position.

Some of the students glared at us as they walked past, and I gave them the finger. Alice didn't seem to care; she never had. We had decided, over the break, that we wouldn't hide our affections. I didn't think I could have, anyway.

I checked my watch, looking at Alice. I was amused to see that she was snoring softly on my lap. I loved the sound of her snoring. Probably the only sound she could make.

It was still fifteen minutes to the bell. If I still remembered correctly, Jessica might get here soon. I wasn't sure if she still would. When I had gone to high school, I had dropped all forms of contacts with my friends.

True to form, I saw Jessica walk up the path. She stopped when she saw me and Alice, and a brief look of jealousy flashed over her face.

My cellphone buzzed. I picked it up, and saw I had a new text from Rosalie. Curious, I opened it and read it. It read, LOOK BHND U.

I looked behind me. There stood Rosalie. And of course, her girlfriend. She and Tanya were inseparable nowadays. I personally reckoned that they had super glued their lips.

"Rosalie!" I exclaimed. On my lap, Alice jerked and opened her eyes at hearing the name of our best friend. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I enrolled here," she said, grinning. "Your dad is so nice, I'm so glad he decided to leave me alone. Anyway, what grade are you in?"

My dad, as the Chief of Police, had decided to turn a blind eye to Rosalie's living on her own. This allowed Rosalie to make all her own choices, including what school to go to. I just felt foolish at assuming that she would go to some fancy school.

"Me and Alice are still in Grade Eleven," I said moodily. "I'm eighteen, and should be in twelfth, but I missed half of school last year. Alice is perfect for it."

"Damn," Rosalie said, looking sad. "I'm in twelfth this year... Ah, well, Tanya's in twelfth, too. And who are these two lovely ladies?"

I looked at the two 'lovely ladies'. "Rosalie, this is Angela and Jessica. Jess, Ang, this is Rosalie, the girl who I think invented the lesbian threesome."

"And foursome," Rosalie added, grinning. "She always leaves out the foursome."

"Ignore her," I told them. "She's always trying to get me and Alice to go into a foursome with them, no matter how many times I tell her it's not gonna happen."

"Really," Jessica mused. "Damn. I'll have to find a girl who's not opposed to the idea."

"When you do, look me up," Rosalie told her. "It's a date."

I snickered. Alice's shoulders shook with her silent laughter. And the bell rang, spoiling my fun. Stupid school. It was already messing up my life.

"Come on, Alice," I said to her, holding out my arm. She slid her hand around my waist, and we walked, arms around each other, to whatever we had first.

It wasn't until second period that we had a problem. I was not-so-sneakily sliding my hand up Alice's thigh when a teacher called out to Alice, asking her for the answer.

Alice, of course, couldn't tell her. The teacher was threatening her with detention when I had to intervene. Detention would cut into our time.

"Sir, she's a mute."

The teacher looked at me in surprise. All the students looked uneasily at Alice. I knew what they would be thinking. A lesbian mute, off with that druggie, Bella.

"Then why wasn't I informed?" he said, sounding frustrated.

"I have absolutely no idea," I said honestly. "But she is, so you can't give her detention for not answering your question. By the way, it's seventy-nine degrees."

He looked at me appraisingly. "Good job, Isabella." I breathed a sigh of relief when he was gone; my hand started creeping back up Alice's thigh.

The bell rang soon after that, signaling the first break. Me and Alice moved quickly back to the tree where we hung out. She looked at me expectantly as we sat down.

She would never let me forget that, would she? She sat on my lap, looking at me with her beautiful eyes. I couldn't resist; I pulled out her lunch box.

And, of course, that's how Angela found us; Alice laying, giggling silently on my lap, as I poked a grape into her mouth. Watermelon rind lay around us.

"The teachers are gonna freak," she grinned. "Reckon you'll get expelled?"

"For what?" I asked. "This isn't against school rules. I checked."

She shook her head and sat down, pulling out an apple from her bag.

"How can you stand that?" Was the first thing I heard Rosalie say, when she snuck up behind us again. "Always feeding her fruit."

"'S not so bad," I said casually. "Makes her taste like fruit."

"Gross," Tanya said, sneaking up behind Rosalie. I laughed as Rosalie fell over in her surprise. "Secondhand fruit?"

I laughed. "Tastes like Alice," I said fondly, staring at my girlfriend.

I still couldn't believe that I was lucky enough to have a girl like Alice as my girlfriend. It seemed just unbelievable that a fucked up girl like me would be able to even exist in the same world as a girl like Alice. Sometimes, I wondered if I was asleep.

She was looking at me with pleading eyes. Laughing, I took stock of what we had left in the lunch box. We had an orange, several grapes, two slices of an apple, a peach, and her watermelon sandwich, with the bread still soggy from the water. I picked up the peach.

As she took a bite of the peach when I held it over her mouth, I saw a bit of juice leak down the side of her mouth, leaving an orangy trail. Looking closer, I saw several other coloured stains. I laughed, and everyone looked at me.

"Sorry," I said, chuckling. "I've just noticed Alice's tattoos."

Alice herself gave me a look that clearly said, what are you on about?

"Down here," I explained, trailing my finger down the side of her mouth. "These little trails of juice down your mouth. They've dyed you."

She touched her cheek in shock. I leaned down and softly kissed the side of her mouth, lasting the peach juice as it ran down her jawline. She breathed softly as I followed it.

When I looked up again, there were three guys standing in front of us. I recognized them all; Mike Newton, start of the football team, Jason Emmett, quarterback, and Aaron Jasper, the athletic star of the swimming team. All had their fists clenched.

"Hey, guys," I said lazily. "Do you like this tree too?" I knew exactly what they were going to do, of course. This would just make them angrier, less controlled.

"We wouldn't want to sit anywhere where a _dyke_ has sat!" Emmett spat. "We came over here to tell you, back off, or else!"

And there it was; they had threatened me. My reaction now felt fully justified. "Or else what?" I said coolly. At my sides, my arms clenched, my muscles standing out.

"Or else we'll beat the fuck out of you and your girlf-" He was cut off as I hit him.

Jasper and Newton watched in disbelief as Emmett sank to the ground. I shook my fist, hoping to alleviate some of the pain. He was hard as a rock.

"You two going to threaten my girlfriend, too?" I asked menacingly.

They both advanced on me. Soon, as I backed away, they were rejoined by Emmett, and two new people joined them; Sam Uley, a track runner, and Harry Edward, another swimmer.

"Get out of here," I told the other five. Angela and Jessica fled, not even saying goodbye. Alice, Rosalie and Tanya all hesitated, unwilling to leave me. Alice was standing her ground. "Go!"

Tanya ran. Rosalie and Alice were still hesitating. "Go get a teacher then," I told my girlfriend lovingly. "Just get out of here."

With a plan firmly in mind, Alice and Rosalie took off, running for a teacher.

"Well, guys," I said, spreading my hands out. "I'm ready when you are."

This time, it was Sam who threw the first punch. I fell to my knees, coughing up blood.

A foot I recognized as Newton's crashed down into my stomach. I fell over even further, onto my hands and knees. Edward's foot connected with my ribs.

From there, it was a haze. All I remembered was more and more pain, growing in every part of my body, both sharp and dull pains. Eventually, I blacked out.

* * *

**Vler. At this point, it may seem like I have given up on my threesome plan. I have not done that. In fact, in the very next chapter (which will hopefully be posted in like, 4 hours- it may contain a lemon, I'm not sure.), the threesome line will begin again. I just need to stuff Rosalie up a bit, and make Bella a bit more murky.**

**Does anyone want the lemon? Tell me! I'll probably write it anyway, but it'll be shorter...**

**And, I'm also busy doing my absolute best to write a one-shot- the smut everyone seemed to be disappointed about. In other words, I will write a one-shot of the foursome between Alice, Bella, Tanya, and Rosalie. I'll get it up sometime this week. I'm not used to one-shots...**

**Well, I'll go write the next chapter now...**


	15. Threesome

**Vler, vler, vler. Here you go; the classic lesbian threesome you pervs have been waiting for. If you just want me to shut the fuck up and let you get on with reading it, fine. It probably sucks anyway.**

* * *

I stroked Alice's hair, running my fingers through it like a comb. There wasn't much hair there, but it was enough for her to shiver in delight.

My head bent down, and I quickly kissed her neck. She gasped and huddled into me, either seeking more kisses or feeling very cold.

I heard someone walking to my room, and I knew that we had to stop. "Someone's here, Ali," I told her quietly. "We gotta stop now. What if it's Charlie?"

Alice inaudibly sighed and got off the bed with me, taking the chance to give me one last kiss and hug before waiting by the door to see who it was that had interrupted us.

Imagine my surprise when I saw a tear-struck Rosalie standing at the door.

"Come in," I said quickly, my tongue stumbling over the words. "What's wrong?"

She didn't seem to be able to talk. I walked to the minifridge and brought out some of the food I had made earlier, now that me and Alice weren't going to eat it.

Rosalie gratefully ate the salad. She was like a machine; scoop a forkful, put it in your mouth, one chew, swallow, scoop again. The whole salad was gone in less than a minute.

"Fuck," I muttered, impressed. "Why are you here, Rosalie?"

Her face crumpled, and another tear leaked out the corner of her eye. I twisted so I could comfort her, and my ribs sent my brain an urgent message of pain. I collapsed, my head on her lap, finding it hard to breathe. Neither Alice or Rosalie seemed to notice.

"Tanya's dead," she said, sobbing.

"What?" I said, my pain not seeming to matter anymore. "How did she die?"

_Rosalie's phone rang. She looked at the Caller I.D, and was surprised to see Carlisle was calling._

_"Hello," she said languorously, stretching beneath the blankets._

_"Rosalie," he said, in a kind of urgent relieved voice. "Tanya's in hospital, she's in critical condition-"_

_"What!" She shot straight out of bed and picked up her car keys, taking off to get to the hospital as fast as she could. Along the way, she broke the speed limit at least twice._

_She slammed on the brakes in front of the hospital, skidding to a stop across three empty parking spaces. Her feet seemed to fly as she ran to the emergency room._

_Inside the room, doctors were battling to keep her alive. Rosalie saw, for an agonizing moment, the heart monitor stop before picking up again, weaker than ever._

_The doctors worked ever more frantically, but Tanya's heartbeat just seemed to be getting weaker and weaker, until finally it stopped altogether._

_Rosalie collapsed to the floor, tears streaming down her face. There was only one thing that could possibly make her feel better; seeing her best friends._

"-and that's how I ended up here," Rosalie concluded.

I rubbed her arm, sympathetic. "Poor Rose," I said softly. "Losing your girlfriend like that. Wait here- I have something that might make us feel better."

I opened the little minifridge in my hospital room, hoping that it was still here. There was a chance the doctors hadn't found it yet. I could have cheered when I found it; a large bottle of wine.

Three wine glasses, and my drink set was complete. I carried it all over on a tray. Rosalie laughed when she saw me acting as a caterer; Alice just looked shocked.

"It's for Rosalie," I muttered in her ear. "It'll make her feel better. I have to do something! We can't just leave her feeling this bad, Alice."

Alice exhaled softly and nodded to me, seeming to give in to my warped logic. I suspected she just wanted to get me drunk. It was the easiest way to get laid.

I filled each of the glasses half-way, and began sipping mine.

* * *

I was straddling Alice, who was laying, giggling, underneath me. Irritated by her silent giggles, I leaned down and kissed her. She tasted more like grapes than watermelon, now. Hopefully, no doctors would walk in on this.

Rosalie, laying next to us, was watching with an avid interest. It made sense to my drunken mind that Rose would watch us do this. After all, we were best friends, and all.

My hands went behind Alice without asking me. I would have given them permission, anyway; they only wanted to unhook Alice's bra for me. I thought Rosalie's eye would pop out of her head at seeing my girlfriend's naked breasts.

"That's right," I said, not quite slurring the words, but coming close. "They're her boobs. And you can't have them. Only I can."

"Well, then, I'll have yours," she muttered stubbornly, glaring at me. I considered this statement. It did make sense; if I could have Alice's, then who could have mine? The obvious answer, Alice, didn't occur to me. I was so drunk, I was surprised I hadn't passed out yet.

"No," I said petulantly. "You can sit there and suffer in silence."

She snorted. "Right. Whatever. Just keep going with your girlfriend."

I stuck my tongue out at her. "Fine, then," I mumbled. "But I'm taking all our clothes off, so don't watch, 'kay?"

"'Kay," she agreed, but didn't turn around or anything. I considered telling her off, but decided against it. Why bother? Too much work.

I turned all my attention back to Alice, who was watching me carefully. I leaned down and kissed her again, one of my hands coming down to fondle Alice's right breast.

Alice made that soft exhalation sound I loved so much, the one that turned me on.

I looked at Rosalie, noticing some movement off to the side, and saw her hand creeping down her panties. I was shocked by this, but it was a drunken shock. That is to say, I forgot all about it the second Alice tugged on my bra strap.

I think I passed out for a few seconds here. When I woke up again, me and Alice were totally nude. If I had turned my head slightly to the right, as I did now, I would see that Rosalie was, too. Nude and quite openly masturbating.

If I was sober, this probably would have shocked me so much, would have kicked her out of my room. As t was, I shrugged it off and turned back to Alice, who was at this moment slowly kissing her way southward on my body.

Her tongue reached my stomach, and I groaned. My hands stretched outwards, looking for anything to hold on to, so that I didn't fall off this bed from the sheer pleasure on it. And, purely by chance, my hand came to rest on Rosalie's thigh.

Alice looked up, noticing the movement. She saw where my hand was, and flashed me a quick thumb's up, before bending back down and slowly licking my cunt.

I shuddered, throwing myself into Alice. My hand unconsciously slid higher up Rosalie's thigh until it hit more flesh, feeling her hand repeatedly hit mine.

Alice licked me again, and I was struck by a sudden impulse. I moved my hand slightly, and rested it on Rosalie's soaked crotch, feeling the wetness.

I moaned softly as Alice's tongue, with a few more licks, brought me to the edge of an orgasm. I wasn't used to feeling so loved; I had one girl, currently licking my pussy, who I was totally in love with, and I was fondling my best friend, who was encouraging me.

And my love's tongue was talented. We had only been going for less than two minutes, and I could already feel a climax coming on. I bucked my hips. Her tongue slipped inside of me, lapping my juices. It was too much; I couldn't hold it in. "Alice!" I screamed as I came, squirting over her face. She looked surprised that she had made me come.

I was panting as I watched Alice climb behind Rosalie. She grinned proudly at me as she grabbed Rosalie's breasts from behind.

Rosalie didn't seem as if she minded, judging from the way she was moaning. I sat up, willing to humour her, and started to stroke her, feeling the wetness lubricate my fingers.

She let out a long, loud moan as I stroked faster. Encouraged by the noise, I leaned over and kissed her softly on the mouth. Alice looked so betrayed, I just had to lean back over and kiss her as I normally did, long and soft and sweet.

Rosalie looked sad that I had stopped kissing her, so when I finished kissing Alice, I kissed her again. She ran her tongue over my bottom lip, but even in my drunken state, I knew I was saving that for Alice.

Alice pinched Rosalie's hard nipples. I think it was that that set her off. Rosalie moaned, longer than before, against my mouth, and I felt her rub against my hand some more. Then she started to buck Alice off, but Alice held on. Then Rosalie came, squirting over my hand.

She collapsed, looking tired. I pulled Alice out from beneath her, kissing my girlfriend alone. She would taste nothing but me, hopefully. She knew I had kissed Rosalie, but I didn't want her to think that I was cheating on her. And this made sense to me.

Alice settled in against Rosalie, looking at me hopefully. I looked down and saw to glistening mounds there, both waiting for me. I couldn't resist them.

As always, Alice was first to receive my attention. I would never neglect my pixie. I licked at her lips, tasting the wetness. My left hand was busy fondling Alice's breasts, and my right hand was giving Rosalie's mound some attention.

Then I swapped the two. I still fondled Alice's breasts, but now my mouth was on Rosalie, and my hand was on Alice. I did have a plan in mind; Rosalie just needed to come as fast as she could.

I did the fastest thing I could think of; I nibbled her clit. She jerked, her eyes wide, as she felt the pleasure roll off her. I sucked on it for a bit, before biting it softly again. She was getting close, I could feel it.

I continued sucking and biting, but now my attention was mostly on Alice. I stroked her clit with my thumb, feeling her shiver. I stroked once more, feeling her body shiver again. I could do this all day. No I couldn't; Rosalie was starting to come.

She bucked again, but the effect wasn't as great today. Alice was on top of her. So she couldn't do anything but let the intense climax cover her.

She squirted again. Her juices tasted sweet, but I still preferred the taste of Alice.

Alice. That reminded me of my plan. Alice was busy receiving attention from my hands, so she couldn't taste Rosalie's juices. But I wanted her to. So I only had one choice; I had to kiss Alice, and let her taste what was left of Rosalie's juices in my mouth.

I kissed her again, waiting to be granted entrance. As always, I didn't have to wait long; It was around a second before she opened her mouth. I ran my tongue over hers, feeling her guilty pleasure as she tasted another girl's juices in my mouth.

My hand was taking on a mind of its' own. Originally, I had only been going to stroke, like I was now. But now my hand was starting to do what Rosalie had been doing before this, only to Alice, not to me.

So I went with it, using my left hand to cup her neck and pull her deeper into the kiss. I loved the way she was running her hands over my back, pulling me into her, claiming ownership of me. I went with it, feeling her body shake under the pressures of holding in her orgasm.

So I kissed her with even more passion, rubbing her furiously for a second. She made my little panting sound again, the one I loved so much. I loved it. I loved her.

"I love you," I panted to her, after she had experienced her second ever orgasm at my hands.

She stared at me with wide eyes for a second. I began to panic, thinking that she didn't feel as strongly about me.

Then she smiled, nodded, and mouthed, "I love you too," back at me. I relaxed, and fell into the arms of the girl I loved.

Fuck, my ribs hurt like hell. But it was worth it.

Carlisle POV

It was nearly two in the morning when I came to check on Bella.. I opened the door quietly, trying not to wake Bella up. I tiptoed forwards and turned the light on.

Why hadn't I ever invested in a pocketfork before? Like it said on the packet, which I had never taken seriously before; "For fathers who walk in on their daughters." I certainly wished I had one right now.

"What the fuck is going on here?"

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**Hehehehe...**

**Well, I'm going to work on Fallen Angel now, I'm inspired again. Goodbye.**


	16. Threesome Talk

**Did anyone else notice? Congratulations to shapeshift, the 150th reviewer! Also, belatedly, Eddwardluver1901 was the 100th reviewer! It doesn't seem that big to me, until I actually think about it, but it's like, huge!**

**Everyone seemed to like the lemon that was in last chapter.**

**Samaramorgane- Thanks for that. Nice to see that my fumbling in the dark wasn't a total lamefest.**

**I agree with everyone. Poor Carlisle... What he saw will haunt him forever.**

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My body was sore all over. It hurt to move at all. Just trying to open my eyes caused me pain.

"Carlisle?" I asked, swearing in my head as my ribs hurt like all hell at the word. Why had the fuckers who had done this to her chosen to kick her in the chest? She couldn't breathe with all this pain!

Oh, right. That had been the point.

"What's goin' on?" My voice was slurred. Had I been drinking? That was when I noticed the warmness pressing into me, from _two_ sides... "Fuck," I swore, as memories of last night started to come back to me.

"Cover yourself, please, Bella." His attitude was throwing me off. Normally, when a doctor walks in on three naked girls in the same bed, very probably with the smell of sex in the air, he doesn't keep his cool. But Carlisle sounded totally professional.

I swung a blanket over me. This exposed Rosalie's legs, but I'm sure he'd rather see them than my naked (and sore) breasts. He looked like he appreciated the effort.

"Thank you, Bella," he said, actually sounding grateful. "Now, to answer my earlier question; what has been going on in here?"

I had to think back to last night. I blushed when I remembered what we had done; the way Rosalie had moaned my name as she had come, the way Alice had kissed me, tasting the juices in my mouth as I made her come... "I'm pretty sure it was a threesome."

Someone stirred beside me. Looking down, I saw Alice slowly open her eyes.

"Hey, Alice," I said, suddenly feeling extremely guilty about what we had done, and anxious that Alice wouldn't forgive me. "You remember what happened last night?"

Alice nodded. I cast my eyes down. Had I hurt her? Would she go back into her coma-?

She pulled me down, and our lips met in a brief but sensual kiss. I relaxed, for the first time hoping that Alice would forgive me.

Carlisle coughed. My head whipped around; I had completely forgotten about the blonde doctor. "Huh? What's going on?"

"So, you had a threesome," he said dryly. "Excuse me for a second."

I graciously let him go. I heard heaving noises coming from the bathroom, and splattering noises. I sighed. The cleaning staff would now have to clean a bathroom that smelled like vomit.

He stumbled back out, looking slightly worse for wear. "I think I'm gonna need therapy," he said roughly. "That mental image is going to stay with me for years."

"Could have been worse," I said cheerfully. "At least we didn't use-"

"Enough!" Carlisle said, holding his hands up. "No more pictures! Please!"

"Fine," I grumbled. He looked at me gratefully.

"Well," he drawled. "I think you two are going to have to work this out with Rosalie."

"Good idea," I mumbled. "Can you get out now?"

He left without another word. I think he was afraid of the word 'dildo'.

Alice had a mischievous look on her face. She signaled to her mouth, then Rosalie's breast, then my hand, then Rosalie's crotch. I got the message. I even got the subtler message Alice was sending me; she didn't regret last night.

Alice bit Rosalie's nipple, hard, at the same time I slammed my hand _into_ Rosalie. The aforementioned woman shrieked and fell of the bed.

"Awww," I said affectionately. "I think she likes us, Alice."

Alice gave me a thumbs-up, and leered at Rosalie. I was mildly shocked.

"We need to talk," I said seriously. Alice nodded, and pulled out her notebook.

"We have only one issue to discuss," I began. "We must discuss what happened last night."

"I liked it," Rosalie offered. "And you were good, Bella." How did she know I was wondering about that?

_So did I,_ Alice wrote. _Can we do it again?_

"Hold up a minute, cowgirl," I said. "I enjoyed it too, but a repeat?"

"Why not?" Rosalie shrugged. "The sex was good, and it helped get my mind off Tanya."

_And it was awesome!_

I had to grin at Alice's enthusiasm. "Regardless, Alice. Don't you think that... sex is something special between us? Shouldn't it stay between us?"

_That's mean, Bella. It's obvious that Rose liked it, I know I liked it, and you said you liked it. Why don't you want to do it again?_

"I don't want to do it with Rosalie," I said, staring into her eyes. "I'm not in love with Rosalie, Alice. I'm in love with you. And I don't want to share that with anyone."

"What about what I want?" Rosalie interjected. We ignored her.

_I'm not in love with Rose, either, Bella. I only love you. But the sex was great! Why can't we do it again?_

I started to feel like I was fighting a losing battle. "I don't want to share my body with anyone except you," I complained. "And I'm **not **sharing you, Alice."

_You wouldn't be sharing me, Bella. You'd be lending Rose to us, not lending us to Rose._

"Hey!" Rosalie protested. "I'm not a sex toy, you know!"

We ignored her. I was seeing where she was coming from, and personally I agreed with her, but I didn't want anyone else touching her. And I told her that.

"I don't want anyone else touching you, Alice," I told her simply. "I want you to myself."

_But it's Rose, Bella. Look at it this way; she's crying right now! Tanya's death hurt her so much! And us two, we can help her get over Tanya! We can make her feel better! And it's pretty nice for us, too!_

She had me at 'we can help her'.

"Fine," I grumbled. "But no kisses for a week."

I had to laugh at her shell-shocked expression. "You know I don't mean that, don't you, Alice?" I asked her, truly concerned. "I don't think I could go for a single day without kissing you at least once."

Alice whirled on me._ Promise me that you'll always say that, Bella. Promise that you'll never leave me, even for a day._

"I promise," I told her. "I promise that I'll never leave you, even for a single day."

She still looked unconvinced, looking at me with her bottom lip trembling.

I sighed. I could probably do this without having to actually do this particular act, but it would make Alice feel better, and that's all that mattered. I got down on one knee, looked up at Alice, and said, "Mary Alice Brandon, I hereby swear to never leave you, not for a single hour, even on the bleakest day of my life."

Then someone hit me on the back of the head. "Get up, moron," Rose said, scowling.

"Hey!" I protested. "You just ruined a really romantic gesture!:

She snorted. "Hey, did you two ever decide what you are going to do?"

I sighed heavily. "For the record, I was against this. Alice decided that we will continue the threesome."

I didn't really mind. I thought about it. Remembering Rosalie's moans underneath me, remembering the sounds she had made as I fucked her, I found myself getting turned on. Nothing when I compared it to Alice in place of Rosalie, of course, but there was some attraction there. Damn, if only I could kiss two girls at once.

"Awesome!" Rosalie cheered. "Well, where are my clothes?"

"Wherever you left them," I snorted. I spotted Carlisle coming down the hall. "Doctor alert."

Rose squeaked, grabbed her clothes, and ran into the bathroom. Alice and I hid under the blankets so Carlisle wouldn't have to see our bodies.

"Sorry I took so long," he said by way of an apology. "I was treating Mister Uley in the emergency room."

I stiffened. "Uley? Sam Uley?"

Carlisle frowned. "Yes. He's one of the boys who put you in here, isn't he, Bella?"

I nodded. "He was like, the ringleader."

"He was injured in a collision," he explained. "Apparently, he was the man who killed Tanya Denali."

I froze. My blood seemed to freeze in my veins. "He killed Tanya? He beat the fuck out of me, he hospitalized me, then he killed Tanya?"

Carlisle looked truly saddened. "I think you should withhold judgment on Mister Uley until you can ask him to explain why he did what he did. I have treated him as a patient in the past, and while his actions may have been unprovoked and truly malicious, he did have a reason for it. It was not simply random homophobia."

If anyone else had told me this, I would have scoffed at them. But Carlisle was a good judge of character. "I guess I can," I said finally. "For you, Carlisle. None other."

"Thank you, Bella," he said quietly. "Your trust means a lot to me. Now, have you resolved things with Rosalie?"

"More like Alice did," I pouted. "I'd rather not tell you what we decided. I'm sure you can guess, but it's very embarrassing."

"You don't have to," he assured me. "Don't worry."

"Good," I sniffled. "Wait a minute- why are my panties hanging on the ceiling fan?"

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**Vler, vler, vler. So, Alice has decided, for both herself and Bella, that they are going to continue with the threesome. How the fuck could this end up good?**

**Sam Uley is in hospital, and Bella totally hates him. However, she has agreed to listen to his side of the story.**

**And, yeah. Anyone want more lemons? If so, two-or-threesome?**


	17. Sam Uley

**Damn, this chapter is short! I'm not entirely satisfied with it, but yeah, I never am.**

**Hm. Yeah. This was pointed out to me by someone, can't remember who. Why do I rarely reply when people review?**

**Honestly, when people critique my work, rather than merely reviewing it, I do reply. Otherwise, I'm just not comfortable with talking to new people, y'know? Even when I'm taking a break from writing notes for either of my 2 original fics, or writing new chaps for this, I only talk to the same one or two people. You know who you are! If you send me a PM, I'll usually reply (unless I'm dead tired), so if you want to talk to me, message me. Otherwise, don't really expect a reply.**

**On the other hand, if you ask a serious question in your review, I will answer back. Got it?**

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Alice was asleep on me again. I kissed her softly, trying to get her to wake up. If I waited much longer, then the nurses would make Uley get in bed.

"Come on, honey," I whispered in her ear. "Don't make me do something where all the male doctors can see. You know I'll get jealous if I have to."

She blinked at me. I wasn't even aware that she had woken up.

"Hello," I half-said, half-sang. "Come on, we have to go see someone!"

Alice stretched. I laughed and kissed the corner of her mouth. She pouted. Oh, yes, she wanted me. Bad. But that was too bad; I was going to wait until Rosalie left for a few days, then Alice could have me. I wanted her hands alone to wander over my body, her undivided attention as I slowly leaned down to lick her glistening mound...

I felt something hit my arm. Surprised, pulled out of my dirty fantasies by the girl I had been fantasizing about, I looked around, and saw we were at a room in the local Emergency Ward. It was obvious that Sam needed to be here, once we saw him.

"Go wait outside, Alice," I whispered in her ear. Alice seemed to like to pout. I just liked to kiss that damned bottom lip.

I walked in to Uley's room, and sat down next to his bed. His gaze followed me inquisitively. "Uley," I said flatly.

He recognized me, I knew it. His head slumped back into his pillow, and he sighed. "Isabella Swan," he acknowledged. "Why are you here?"

"I'm here to hear your story," I told him. "Carlisle asked me to, and I told him I would. Not that I think there's anything you could possibly tell me that could make what you did to my Alice better, but I have to hear you out."

Pain flashed across his face when I said 'my Alice'. He shuddered in a breath, before gazing at me seriously.

"I tried to stop them, you know," he said softly. "At first, you just reminded me so much of... of _her_. But then, after that, you just looked sad and pathetic on the ground there, and I tried to stop them. I really did, Bella."

"But you started in the first place," I reminded him. "I can't forgive you for that."

"And I don't expect you to," he said, nodding his head. "But can I at least try and explain myself?"

I inhaled. Alice was out there, cold, and very probably alone, unless one of the doctors was talking to her. But I had promised Carlisle. "Make it quick."

"Sure," he said, sounding taken aback that I had agreed to let him talk.

"When I was two, my parents divorced," he explained. "My mother came out to him, and he took it rather well, I think. He didn't yell, or cry, or anything. He just wished her luck and left.

For the next four years, I lived alone with my mother. Occasionally, she would invite a woman over, but it never lasted. Not until she met Irina, when I was seven.

My mother fell for Irina, hard and fast. I had trouble warming up to the woman, but. I didn't like the way she would look at her, like she was some kind of trophy to be owned. A recently divorced woman, who has been noted for sleeping with no few women.

She and my mother started dating. Oh, sure, she was never anything but nice to me, always bringing me toys and snacks. But I saw the way she looked at my mother, and the way she treated her, and no matter how hard she tried, I just didn't warm up to her.

So, after one particular bad night of mine, something I'm sure you don't want to hear about, I walked in on my mother naked, tied up to her bed, with Irina standing before her like some sort of prison guard, or something."

I felt myself growing wet as I imagined doing that to Alice.

"Needless to say, I ran out. My mother didn't see me, but Irina did. She didn't say anything about it until the next day.

When she did finally talk to me about it, she wasn't nice or supportive about it at all. Instead, she threatened that if I told anyone about what I had seen, she would cut off my balls and feed them to wild birds. Needless to say, I was terrified.

From then on, instead of just not liking the woman, I really started to hate her. Especially after she made my mother miss my graduation from elementary school. One of my friends later told me that she had taken my mother out to a kinky gay club.

I confronted her about it the next day. And that's when the beatings started.

In front of my mother, she would act like she was totally in love with my mother. When my mother was turned around, however, or maybe bent around by Irina, she would hit me. I still have scars today from a belt buckle she hit me with once. All down my legs, I have little burn marks where Irina decided it would be fun to stub out her cigarette.

About a month ago, maybe a bit more, it happened. This would be about a week before I hit you, Bella. My mother finally noticed some of the scars. After eight years of abuse. She asked me, point-blank, if I did them to myself, because- and I quote- 'I didn't like sweet Irina'.

I went absolutely ballistic on her. I yelled at my mother, telling her how Irina was the one who was doing this to me, how Irina had been doing this to me. How much I hated the stupid slut. Then I called my father, and asked him to come pick me up.

He agreed, saying that he would be there in a bit over a week. I sat and waited for a few hours, hoping he would come earlier.

Irina came back in, holding a cigarette. She told me to hold out my leg. But now that my mother knew, I didn't have to do what she wanted. I kicked her and ran.

Then, I went to school, and I saw you. You reminded me so much of her; mainly just the way you look. Irina looked a lot like you. And you wouldn't back down, you just kept pushing my buttons... Until I snapped. That was when you went to hospital."

I looked at him. I didn't know whether or not to forgive him. On one hand, he seemed sorry enough for me to consider forgiving him. But on the other hand, he had done something to me, and Alice, that made him need forgiving.

"And Tanya?" I asked quietly. "What did she do?"

"That was an accident," he said, clearing his throat. "Irina came back, and I was trying to get away from her. The woman had a fucking _gun_, Bella! A gun! I was just trying to get away! And then your friend was there, right in front of the motorbike, and it was too late. I tried to stop, but I couldn't."

I got up quietly and left. He would need time alone, and I needed to get back to Alice.

We kissed when we met again in the hallway. I walked away from Uley, hoping that he would be able to explain this to Rosalie. Maybe then she would cancel the threesome.

Sam POV

Isabella hadn't forgiven me yet. I could feel it.

I let my mind drift back to when I had beaten Isabella.

_Bella was laying on the ground. There was blood on the ground beneath her. She coughed, and more blood splattered on the ground._

"_Oh, no," I whispered. My rage faded, and I realized that this girl was not Irina. She was not the woman who had been ruining my life for the past eight years. No, this was Isabella Swan- a druggie, who everyone knew had a complicated past with that dead chick, Sarah. A girl who was just trying to protect her girlfriend._

_Edward's foot reached out again, launching itself into her stomach. She cried out in pain, and I looked as more blood poured out of her mouth._

"_What the fuck are you doing?" I exclaimed. "Get away from her!"_

_His eyes flickered up to my face. "We're beating up a dyke, Sam. Remember?"_

"_Get away from her!" I yelled. "Stop that! Can't you see that she's hurt?"_

"_That's kind of the point," he reminded me. "We don't want lezzos in our school, do we?"_

_Behind him, Newton kicked her again, this time in the ribs. Emmett seemed to like that idea, and kicked her there again._

"_Get the fuck away from her!" I yelled at them, and punched Edward in the face. I roared, and charged over, tackling Emmett. I held him like this for maybe ten seconds, before Edward got back up and kicked my side. Emmett scrambled up, and was about to kick me, too, when a teacher ran up._

"_What is going on here?" she screamed as she saw the blood pooling around Bella. Poor girl; had they named a room after her yet?_

"_I tried to help," I explained quickly. "I tried to help. I started it, but I tried to help."_

And help I had tried to do. But Isabella was quite within her rights to not forgive me.

I grinned. I would make her forgive me, then. Her and her girlfriends.

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**Hmmm. So, Sam was abused by a child, was he? And he walked in on his mother having sex. Uncomfortable moment, that. Trust me, I know. (vomits into a conveniently-placed toilet)**

**Well, exactly how far will he go to prove how sorry he is to Bella? You decide!**

**Plus, lemon in the next one-three chapters. Pure Alice and Bella, no Rosalie... Just the way it was ordered. Anything you want to happen?**

**Hmmm. So, I've noticed something else about this story; nearly 100 people have it on story alert. Do I do good? Also, yesterday (according to this time, all today my time), this story had 1490 hits! This story has actually been added to TWO communities! This story is so popular, it's insane! What do you people actually like about this story? Tell me! lease! It's driving me nuts!**

**Czytanie i weryfikacja! Or, as the English say it, Read and Review!**


	18. Attempted R

**Warning: Some Themes and Scenes in this chapter are of a graphical and disturbing nature. Parental Guidance is recommended for people under fifteen years of age... Hehehehe...**

**Not really. If your parents read what I've written here, I might just turn up dead tomorrow... And that would upset at least some readers, I'm sure.**

**Anywayyyyyy...**

**No lemon in this chapter. Now you're wondering, 'What has he written?'**

**Meh. Has any readers here read any of my new story, Eternal Dusk?**

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"You ready yet?" I asked Alice, who was currently trying to pull a shirt on over her head. The sight of her without a shirt on was making me drool, and I was restraining myself. As much as I'm sure she would enjoy it, I wasn't going to rape her.

She poked her head out of the sleeve and stared at me. I looked at her, then doubled over laughing. She looked like a kitten that had just popped its' head out of a ball of yarn, after somehow getting tangled in it.

"Let me help," I said, still chuckling. I walked over to her and started tugging on the shirt, pulling her head back into the shirt. A sleeve was not a place where your head went.

Eventually, after we had dressed each other- and I'm sure Alice's hands did _not_ need to go down my panties to put on my skirt!- we walked downstairs, where Alice- of course- took a slice of watermelon. I grabbed some toast, and we jumped in the car. Literally, in Alice's case.

"Ready for school again?" I asked. She nodded her head at me, and stared resolutely out of the window. I wouldn't want to be anyone standing in her way today. She'd flatten me.

We pulled up outside the school, parking in the nearly empty parking lot. I rushed around and opened Alice's door for her. Oh, yes, quite the smooth gentlewoman am I. I held my hand out for her, and she climbed out of the car with my assistance.

"Come on," I said brightly. "Back to school, after another month of missing it. At this rate, I'm going to have to repeat it for a third time." Actually, I had kept up with the coursework at the hospital, but it still could be true.

She smiled at me, and I suddenly felt nervous. Why was she smiling at me? She was angry just before, and now she was smiling at me?

Alice jumped on my back, slinging one hand over my shoulder, and clasping it with one hand thrown under my other shoulder. I grunted at the sudden addition of weight. How could so slim a girl weigh so much?

Not contesting it, I grabbed her legs, securing the back of her knees under my arms, and walked off. She wouldn't fall, and she seemed to be comfortable there. If I didn't know better, I would say she was falling asleep.

I sat her down in our spot, and studied her angelic face. She looked so innocent, all cute, and splayed out like a fallen angel. I memorized her face; the small dimples next to her mouth, as she smiled at something; the way her hair fell around her, not gelled for once; the dark bags underneath her face.

"Why do you have bags under your eyes?" I asked her. She opened her eyes and looked at me guiltily.

Alice shook her head. I pressed on, determined to get my answers. "Why?"

She looked around, and seemed relieved to see something. She pointed to our left, and I turned my head to see Sam Uley walking towards us.

"Yes?" I asked coolly. He was not one of the people I wanted to see today. The only people I wanted to see today were Alice, Jessica and Angela. Not even Rosalie, because if Rosalie was gone, then I would have Alice to myself.

"I brought you two something," he said, smiling at me proudly. He turned around, and dug around in his schoolbag. I realized with a shock that Alice and I had forgotten our schoolbags. We were so screwed.

He pulled out two red roses, and handed them, one for each of us. I stared at them. Was he trying to romance us, or was this his way of apologizing?

"What is this?" I asked guardedly, twirling the rose.

"It's a rose," he said, looking hurt that I hadn't realized this sooner. "It's meant to represent... I dunno... Something. People on T.V always give people roses when they want to apologize."

I shoved the roses back at him. "The people who are doing that are dating, retard," I told him. "I might give Alice roses if we get in a fight, but you do not give us roses!" There were already three people in this relationship; too many. We didn't need a fourth.

"Oh." He scratched the back of his head, looking sheepish. "I didn't realize."

I drew in a deep breath, exhaling slowly. "That's okay, Sam," I said. He looked so earnest, holding roses, trying to apologize. He said he had tried to help me. How could I not accept his apology? Then I remembered; he had hurt Alice by starting that fight, or inciting it, or whatever.

"Do you forgive me?" he asked hopefully.

I shook my head regretfully. "No, Sam," I said. "I don't forgive you."

"That's okay," he said brightly. "I can always think of other ways to get you to forgive me."

I snickered. Next thing I knew, he would be hiring a band to play a 'Forgive Me' song outside my window at night, holding up a box of chocolates.

"Right, Sam," I said. "Try again later."

"Okay." He bounced off. God, that kid reminded me of Alice. But in a guy-ey sort of way.

Alice tugged on my sleeve, trying to steal all my attention. I turned to her, sweeping her into my arms. If she melted, I was so out of here. I didn't want to be the guy in our relationship. We could both be the girl.

She didn't melt. She returned the gesture, until we were both squeezing each other and laughing our heads off. Until I tripped, taking her with me.

We ended up sprawled at the bottom of a small hill, breathless. Alice was laying on top of me. Our laughter died down, as I felt her weight on top of me.

Footsteps came towards us, and we quickly got out of that position. If I had been beaten merely for kissing Alice, what would they do if they found Alice on top of me?

And indeed, it was that dick, Newton. He thought he was all high and mighty. I knew he wasn't. He had needed to knock me down and kick me while I was there in order to feel good about himself. He was nothing but a fucked-up cockhead with an arrogant ego to match Edward's.

"Oh, are the two lezbos making out?" he called over to us as he spotted us. "I'm sorry for getting in your way. Please, continue."

"Fuck off," I said, showing him my middle finger. Alice laughed silently beside me as Newton's face turned mauve.

"Watch out, dykes," he said threateningly. "Do you want a repeat of last month?"

"Just try it, cocksucker," I taunted him. "See how far you get this time, hey? Maybe you'll go far enough that you could be charged with attempted murder?"

"Nice try," he said arrogantly. "But if anyone tries to convict me, I'll just bribe the judge."

"And when the judge happens to be a friend of my father?" I asked softly, laughing as his face fell. "That's right, prick. This judge can't be bribed. And neither can the jury, for you see, I have ways of getting the people I want as the jury."

His eyes took on a cunning look. "And I'll tell them you said that."

"And I'll tell the judge you said you could bribe him," I said triumphantly. Try that on for size, you arrogant fuck!

His hands clenched into fists. "Can't charge me with attempted murder if you're dead," he said spitefully, turning to walk off.

I felt vaguely uneasy at his words. Was that just an idle threat, or would he actually try to kill me? I had no doubts that if he tried,. I was dead.

"Come on, Alice," I said quietly. "Let's go."

I made it through all my classes until first break without breaking down, although that death threat was always on my mind. It was starting to worry me.

My worries were confirmed true when I found the same people as before waiting for me outside my classroom. The only person missing was Sam.

My body shuddered, and I spread my hands. "Bring it on, boys," I said quietly.

I was aware of a small warmth next to me, and I felt a familiar hand slip into mine. Alice stood next to me, bravely holding her chin high. I sighed, recognizing that stubborn pose. Nothing I could say would make her leave now.

"Two homos for the price of one," Emmett said, clapping his hands. "Awesome."

I sighed. "Sorry, Alice," I whispered. There was no way she was getting hurt. A lesser hurt would be better than a big hurt. If Alice stayed there, I would be hurt less, but Alice would be hurt. I would take everything they could throw to avoid that.

My hands went on her shoulders, and I pushed her out the door. It swung open, and she stumbled outside. The door swung shut behind her, clicking as it locked. I smiled. Alice would be safe now.

"Fuck," Edward grumbled. "One got away."

"Never mind," Newton said, an avaricious look in his eye. "Don't worry, dyke. We won't kill you this time. No, we have a much better plan for you."

I felt truly afraid. I knew how smart Edward was, after being paired with him for a Biology project once. Any plan that was worse than me dying would have been approved by him. This could suck, big time.

Emmett walked over and pulled on my hair. I screamed in pain. Outside the door, I could see Alice's terrified face peering in. I shooed her away with her hand.

Edward grabbed my shirt, twisting and pulling it off. Newton got the bra, and Emmett used his free hand to pull down my panties. I stood in too much pain to even remember the fourth kid's name, but he was the first one to pull down his pants. I felt the warmth of his erect penis near me, and I gagged.

"Now, now," Edward chided me. "We wouldn't want to have to kill you now, would we?"

"No, we wouldn't want anybody dead," a voice behind me said. "So how about you back the fuck off, and get away from her?"

Newton's eyes narrowed. "Uley," he said spitefully.

"Sam," I breathed. Oh, god, how I was glad to see him.

"And he's not alone," another kid behind him said, stepping forward. I thought I recognized him.

"Jacob Black?" I asked disbelievingly.

"That's right," he said cheerfully. "And we couldn't let one of Sam here's friends get hurt, could we?"

Looking at the way he stepped around Sam, I began to suspect that the kids I hung out with weren't the only gay people here.

"Fuck," Newton swore. He knew now that he couldn't get away from this. Unless he had the resources to kill four people- two of whom were strong, capable men- he wouldn't get away with this.

"I'm out of here," Edward said. He took off without a look back. Coward. Who would abandon their friends at a time like this? Especially when I could easily identify him later?

"Smart kid," Sam said. "He might get another couple of hours freedom. You three only get about one more minute, before the cops turn up here."

I laughed- silently. It would be very unwise to push these three any further.

Emmett was the first to step in. "I give up," he mumbled. He walked out the door, rather than the exit Edward had used. A little bundle of energy tackled me through the now-opened doorway.

"Alice," I said sternly. "Didn't I tell you to stay away?"

She stuck her tongue out at me, but I wasn't kidding around. She saw this, and her face fell.

"Two of us against four of them," Newton mumbled. "Two of them are girls, so it's more like two against two and a half-"

I stepped forwards and belted him across the mouth. His eyes rolled up, and he collapsed.

"It was more like four against a half," I said, rubbing my sore knuckles. I really needed to get back into fencing. Maybe I would still have enough money to get a private instructor. But then I couldn't lavish Alice... Damn it! Alice was more important.

The other kid- I still couldn't remember his name- looked at Newton, looked at Sam and Jacob, and took off the same way Edward had gone. Unfortunately for him, that was the way my father had decided to come. Basically, he ran to my father. What a retard.

"Are you okay, Bella?" Sam asked, genuine concern in his voice. I looked him straight in the eye.

"I forgive you, Sam. Now for you, Alice."

Alice quailed backwards. She wasn't expecting the huge kiss I gave her.

"I'm sorry," I said tearfully. "I didn't mean to get you hurt like this! I-"

She cut me off much the same as I had cut her off, by grappling with my tongue. She might have stopped my words, but she couldn't stop a small moan from coming out of my mouth.

I looked her straight in the eye when we finished. "Why didn't you go get a teacher?"

* * *

**Vler... Poor Bella, almost getting raped...**

**Sorry 'bout the plot hole. I needed Charlie to come to the school, and I needed the four to try and rape Bella... It was only after I'd written it that I realized they were in school, Alice could've gone and gotten a teacher. I was like, 'Damn it!' But to fix the plot hole would've taken a few more hours, and I came up with a way to solve it... Next chapter.**

**In other news... What does 'hiatus' mean?**

**Gleeb. Goodbye for now, not forever!**


	19. How Will We Fare?

**Hehehe, Charlie is awesome in this chapter. Every teen's dream father...**

**Okay. Um. There is a lamon in this chapter! Everyone seemed to want to see what Alice and Bella would be like alone, in a twosome, so, enjoy!**

**Yeah. I'm going to upload another chapter of Eternal Dusk tonight, after I finsih writing it. I have maybe five hundred words left. I'll finish writing it after Merlin, 'kay?**

**Gleeb. Um. This story has nearly 200 reviews. Reckon we can push it over that edge with this chapter?**

* * *

"So, Bella," Charlie began, pacing around the living-room floor. "I'm considering just getting you home-schooled. Would that be alright with you?"

"Will Alice be doing it too?" I asked, not planning on doing it if Alice wasn't. I wasn't ever going to do anything that Alice wasn't doing, unless she indicated she wanted to do it too. I wasn't going to make her do my things, and I wasn't going to separate her from me.

He half-grimaced, half-grinned. "Yes, Bella," he said exasperatedly. "Since I know that you can't bear to leave Alice's side for ten minutes, I arranged it for Alice, too."

"Thank you, Dad!" I shrieked. Home schooling was something that could quite possibly be done in hospital, too. At least, as far as I knew.

Charlie cleared his throat. "Speaking of Alice," he said significantly. "There's a game on, over at Harry's. It's going to run so late, that I don't think I'll be able to make it home before work. I'll be back at six tomorrow, okay, Bella?"

I understood what he was doing, and god, I loved him for it. Any teenager would love to have a father like Charlie; I did. I had a father who, without me even hinting at it, had arranged for himself to do something, to give me and Alice some alone time.

"Thanks, Dad!" I yelled, squeezing him even harder. One day, if he kept this sort of thing up, his head might explode from the pressure.

His face turned hard. Afraid it was me that he was angry at, I flinched, only to hear the T.V blare behind me.

"... local teenager, Harry Edward, has yet to be found, in relation to charges of attempted rape. The eighteen-year-old has been spotted several times, but each time, he has managed to evade capture. If you have any information regarding his whereabouts, please call..." I tuned it out again, afraid to hear any more on the subject.

"Don't worry, Dad," I said softly. "You know Alice won't leave me alone for a second. You saw how it was at school- Alice wouldn't even go get a teacher, she was so desperate to stay near me! We both have pepper spray, Dad. We're fine."

"Keep that spray on you at all times," he said gruffly. "Well- I wouldn't want to distract you from Alice anymore, would I?"

"Seeya, Dad," I said softly, waving goodbye to him. He jumped in his cruiser and was off.

Alice was showering upstairs. I walked upstairs, hoping that I could catch her before she escaped. I did.

The towel was hanging on a rack near the shower. I picked it up and opened it, holding it outstretched for Alice. I grinned wickedly. Alice wouldn't be able to escape me now.

She turned the water off. I shifted my stance, holding it tighter in case she tried to grab it and run. Her hand was the first thing to appear, sliding back the glass door surrounding it. Steam billowed out of the shower, and I was hard-pressed not to cough.

Alice stepped out of the shower with her eyes closed. I snickered silently; this would freak her out, big-time. I wrapped the towel around her midsection nestling my head against her neck.

Spinning around, Alice nearly fell over. She was only saved from that by me, holding out my hand so she could grab onto something. When her hand grasped mine, I pulled her up and into my arms.

"Got you," I whispered into her ear. "Now, what shall I do with my little pet?"

Giving me a look of wide-eyed outrage, she attempted to get away from me. I held onto her, laughing. She was trying to escape, now. My laughter died down as another thought struck me. Did she only want me when there was another person around?

Alice saw the sad look on my face, and stepped back into my arms. She circled my waist with her arms, trying to pull me closer. I fought back the tears that were coming.

I picked up the towel again, awkwardly bending over with Alice still holding onto my waist. She held on tighter as she was flung onto my back, and was silently panting as she got back down to earth.

And now my shirt was soaked. Not that that mattered; I hadn't been planning on leaving it on anyway. But Alice was still soaked, so I started to dry her.

She shivered as I wound the towel around her body, paying particular attention to her breasts. I saved the best place for last; hopefully, by the time I got up to it, my attempts to dry it would only make it wetter.

Soon, most of her body was dry, and I was able to move on to her mound. She shivered extra-hard and her breath caught, as she held onto my arms. I grinned. I hadn't thought that she would be quite this wet. Every time I ran the towel over her, she kept getting even more wet, until the towel wasn't fit for use. I threw it into the laundry basket.

"Well, well," I said huskily. "Looks like we'll have to find some other way to dry you, hadn't we, Alice? Otherwise you'll never get dry." Incorrect, I knew, but it had the intended effect. She practically ran to our bedroom.

I followed her eagerly. In fact, she was so slow, compared to me, that by the time we were halfway there, I was sick of it, and simply scooped her into my arms, carrying her to my bed. I collapsed, rolling next to Alice. I looked at her, and was startled- and slightly scared- to see the devilish look she was giving me.

"What are you doing?" I asked nervously. By god, was she going to eat me?

I didn't expect an answer. How could a mute answer? So, I wasn't entirely surprised when she pretty much tackled me again, trying to glue or mouths together. I didn't mind too much. At least this was a good start-up for what I had planned.

I felt the dampness from between her legs, making her slide around against me. I rolled over, pulling her on top of me. It was my guilty pleasure; I _liked_ feeling her weight press on me. I liked having her on top of me.

Eventually, as I grew close to passing out from lack of oxygen, I broke off the kiss, gulping in air. My hands slid up and down Alice, feeling her dry heat radiate on me. I slid my legs around hers, locking them together, so neither of us could get up and walk away.

Now, my flower was burning as well. I felt an intense need to rip off my clothes and join Alice, our bodies together in their nakedness. But my hands were currently being held down by Alice, who was taking advantage of that and kissing my collarbone.

I closed my eyes and leaned into her, moaning softly as her tongue flicked against me. My body demanded to get closer to her, demanded to join her in her gloriousness. I tried to comply, but it was hard when she was holding me away from her.

Whimpering softly, I tried to get my hands free, but she took this as a sign of encouragement and held them down even harder, holding me down. I struggled to free my hands now, _needing_ to get my clothes off. It was involuntary, now.

I moaned as she kissed the flesh showing beneath my shirt, half in lust, half in protest. I wanted her to kiss lower than that. I wanted the whole fucking shirt to be gone! I wanted everything to be gone, I wanted there to be nothing but me and Alice, alone together!

I bucked, freeing my hands. One hand pressed her mouth to mine again, as I kissed her, as passionately as I could, trying to show her exactly how much I wanted her to, without words. The other hand was busy unbuttoning my shirt.

My shirt and bra flew off as I ran my tongue over Alice's lower teeth. I set to work on my skirt, but was hampered by the nearness of Alice's wetness. My hand desperately ached to be inside it, to feel it sliding into Alice...

Skirt followed soon after, as I fought the desire. As good as that would feel, I knew it would feel even better- for both her and me- if I was completely naked. So now I was trying to work my panties off my legs, which were still tangled with Alice's. In my lust-filled mind, I couldn't remember how I had taken off the skirt.

I whimpered as Alice gently bit my lower lip. My hard nipples pressed against hers. I felt it when she smiled; obviously, she could feel them. Like she was one to smirk. Hers were as hard, or maybe even harder.

"No," I complained softly when she stopped kissing me. I cursed myself for being an idiot when her hand moved down my body, lightly stroking my breasts before continuing its' journey down. I waited, holding my breath, to see whether she was just being a tease, or was serious about this. I wanted her so bad it hurt.

Evidently, she could feel how bad I wanted her, because she stuck one finger against me and softly, slowly, pushed it inside me. I groaned in pleasure as she pushed it as far in as it would go, sliding around in my wetness.

"Alice," I whimpered softly. She felt so good inside me. How had I ever lived without this girl in my life? Life before this surely must have been dull, boring, colourless, compared to now. I felt so _alive._

I moaned when she added a second finger to the first. Had she really only ever done this once before? It felt so good, she must have done this before. Or was I just so in love with her, that it felt like she was masterful when she was really a novice at it?

And then I decided it didn't matter, when she added her tongue to the mixture.

I was constantly whimpering now, my breasts rising and falling under the constant movement of my chest as I panted. I could feel it building inside me, drawn forward by Alice.

When I came, I came screaming her name. It was long, and hard, and given to me purely by her. As far as I was concerned, it was the best feeling I'd ever had.

I lay, panting, as Alice climbed back beside me. She draped an arm over me, and I knew she was willing to give up having a climax like that, willing to just lay with me. That simple gesture made me love her more than I had ever thought was possible.

But was I willing to let her get away with that? Not a chance.

I kissed her gently, not even entering her mouth, before I moved down.

Her nipples felt like little, warm rocks in my mouth. Or maybe it would be more correct to say, little, hard, warm pieces of candy. That was what it seemed like to me at the time; like the best possible treat I could have. I would go to the ends of the earth to get a treat like this.

She closed her eyes as I watched. I released her nipple, moving down a bit more. I kissed the warm flesh of her breast before I moved down, trailing kisses down her stomach. Until I reached my ultimate goal; her wet mound.

Alice made that little breath sound I loved so much as I nuzzled her with my nose. It was less of a turn-on than it normally was, very probably due to the screaming orgasm I'd just had. Instead, it was a sound which made me want to do this to her for forever.

My tongue flicked inside her, lapping at the juices. They tasted even better than I remembered. And I had laid awake at night, playing with myself as I imagined that taste.

I pressed myself as far into her as I could get, not wanting my angel to go one moment more than required feeling unsatisfied. So I nipped her, trying to make her come as fast as I could, as long and hard as she could stand.

Her body shuddered, and I felt two hands come down and tangle themselves in my hair. They pushed me further into them, until my forehead was pressing into her hip bone. I was willing to deal with the pain, as long as I could be near her, as close as I could get.

I licked at her even faster than before, as I felt her shudder even more. I could remember only one previous time she had shuddered like this; when we had had the threesome in the hospital, with Rose. Only this time, the shudders were more violent.

So when I bit her, gently, she exploded. Almost literally, too. Her hips bucked so violently that several strands of my hair were pulled off as the force pushed me off the bed, her hands still tangled in my hair.

Laying breathless on the cold floor, I was amazed that I had done that to her. Had I really just made her come hard enough to actually _throw_ me off the bed?

I climbed back onto the bed, and smiled at the absolutely elated smile on her face. I cuddled up against her, reveling in the warmth of her body.

We lay like this for nearly an hour before my phone rang. I picked it up and answered it.

"Bella? It's Carlisle. Rosalie is in the Emergency Room."

And my bubble was burst.

* * *

**Hehehe, I'm evil. So, a quick rundown of all the plot events that are currently running down;**

**We have the wole, 'Where's Cynthia?' thing running. I haven't just abandoned her; there's a whole storyline there. Hehehe, if I wanted, I could probably write a whole other story about Cynthia's background... She's about as messed up as I am, she just puts on a better face. By God, the'res a whole wealth of stuff there, it'll be hard to fit in here...**

**Edward. Harry Edward. The prick who ran away, leaving behind his accomplices, after attempting to rape Bella. He's currently out for revenge on her and Alice, making for one hell of a plotline...**

**And, of course, Rosalie is in hospital. Can anyone guess how this is related to the two above plotlines? Keep in mind, this is me, so don't go for the obvious...**

**One other little plot line, that everyone's probably forgotten about now, but I've just picked up on it again, and it will turn out to be fairly important. Remember when Bella was nearly dead, and she saw both Alice and Sarah in her mind? Well, Sarah's still there, just waiting for one slip-up...**


	20. Fostered

**Hmmm... This is, or at least I think it is, my shortest chapter yet for Empty memories, with only 1233 actual words in the story.**

**Alright. You're going to need to bear with me, with my seemingly random plotline that I've introduced. Reasons for it at the bottom. Just know that it wasn't completely random.**

**Sorry for the suck-ness of this chapter, too. Normally, I would have spent another half-hour writing it, but I have to go to Sydney in less than twelve hours (I'm also considering moving there. If I do, my updates will be stuffed up for a while, but that's not til the end of the year, anyway.) and I really need to get at least a small amount of sleep. Maybe I should take three of my pills... Three moderate-strength sedatives should get me to sleep, hey? Well, sorry again. If you want, I'll edit it when I get back, hey?**

* * *

"What's wrong with her?" I asked Carlisle quietly, not wanting to speak loudly, just in case a loud sound might spook her awake. The woman was sleeping peacefully for once, her mind not plagued by anything. As far as the doctors could tell.

"She overdosed," Carlisle said gently, avoiding looking in my eyes. "You really don't have much luck with the ladies, do you?"

"What do you mean?" I frowned. I had all the luck with the ladies. I had Alice. How could he even say that?

He chuckled, but I could see that there was no actual amusement in him. "Well, first off, you pick Rosalie. Alice goes into a coma. Then you choose Alice over Rosalie, and now Rosalie nearly died. Plus this Sarah your father talks about."

Well, when he put it that way... "I guess you're right," I scowled. "But you didn't have to mention it. That hurt, Doc."

Carlisle chuckled again, but this time there was some actual amusement there. "Want some meds?" he joked. The joke was so inappropriate that I had to laugh. It was involuntary.

"You're good with kids," I complimented him, sidetracked by the sudden thought. It was true. Every kid I had seen him with was completely comfortable with him, able to laugh and joke, and share their most intimate secrets with him. After a few minutes.

"I guess I am," he said, laughing nervously. "I used to raise some foster kids, and I guess they rubbed off on me."

"You raised foster kids?" I was intrigued. "When did you do that? And why is this the first I've heard of it?"

"I try to keep it quiet," he explained. "I would have raised Alice as my foster child, but due to her unique needs- being a mute, only eating fruit, you know the deal- stopped that. The kids I raised were known as Garrett and Kate. Nice kids. But you can't tell anyone this, okay?"

"Fine," I agreed. If he didn't want even more of his generosity flashed around, who was I to deny him?

He spun me around to look at him. "I'm deadly serious here," he warned me, staring at me. It was unnerving. "There's some people, both here and in the general city around here, who didn't take well to Garrett. Garrett was the kind of kid who'd do anything for the challenge, y'know? He ended up in some trouble, and if anyone around here knew of it, I could lose my job. I don't even know why I told you."

"It's a-cause I'm cute." I affected a southern drawl, and flashed my dimples at him. He stared at me, baffled, until I blushed and started laughing.

"That was random," Carlisle commented, turning his head back to the window. "Anyway, do you have any idea what Rosalie might have overdosed on?"

"Sleeping pills," I said promptly. Maybe too promptly/ He gave me an odd look, before turning back around and staring at Rosalie again. He would sprain his neck doing thiat.

"What makes you say that?" he asked. I blinked, unsure of what to say to that. Did he think that I had encouraged Rose to- No. Carlisle wouldn't think that of me, would he?

I pretended to think about it for a second, before snapping my fingers and making a small 'ding' sound, as if a lightbulb had gone on above me. "It's what I'd do," I explained.

"You're acting a bit odd," he said slowly. "Is everything okay?"

My face sort of fell, while at the same time remaining exactly the same way it was. I guessed it wouldn't physically show. Was it really that obvious? Did I walk around with all my problems written on my face?

"It's nothing," I assured him. "Just some... personal issues."

"Okay," he said slowly, studying my face. I tried to call up memories of happy times, letting the memories relax me. I wasn't too sure how successful it would be, but it seemed to work. "Just remember. Not a wird to anyone. I really don't want to lose my job here. Or worse things could happen, I suppose. Maybe I'd wake up in a park one da, bloodied and bruised-"

"Let's not go there," I interrupted him. "I'm kind of already in that situation, remember?"

He jumped backwards slightly as if shocked. "Oh," he said sheepishly. "I guess I forgot."

"Damn right," I said. "Now, why haven't I even heard a hint of you raising foster children before?"

He drew in a deep breath and let out an irritated sigh. "Didn't I explain this to you just two minutes ago?" he asked. "Kate was the daughter of my cousin, Carmichael. He died in a car crash, and requested in his will that I be the one to take care of her. Garrett... Well, I used to know his father. Garrett accidentally killed him, and Garrett was always messed up about it. They figured, since I've got a degree in psychology as well as medicine, and I was already raising a foster child, I'd be a perfect candidate."

I blinked. That was quite a story. "Why did you tell me, then?" I asked.

Carlisle actually took a moment to think this over. "You should feel honoured," he said eventually, grinning at me. "I've only ever told two other people this story, and both of them, I considered to be family."

I flushed. Carlisle saw me as his family? Touching.

"The topic really could have been raised in a better way, you know," I said dryly. "It's like you didn't even mean to say anything."

"I didn't really plan on it," he responded, equally dryly. "The words just kind of slipped out, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I do," I said quietly. "So, how bad is Rose?"

"Are we just going to keep going over the same things?" he asked. "I'm not going to repeat myself, Bella. Now, why are you looking so worried?"

Dammit. And I thought I'd been hiding it so well.

"Cynthia texted me," I told him. "Apparently, she's having a little bit of trouble with her parents. Nothing serious, or she would have called the cops, but... Yeah. You get what I mean?"

"You're worried about your sister," he said softly. I looked at him, startled.

"My sister?"

"Look at it this way, Bella," he said, looking definitely amused. "Do you have any plans at all to ever leave Alice?"

"None," I said instantly. "Right now, I feel like I could easily stay with her forever. And I don't see that changing any time soon."

"So, by definition, you'll be like an unmarried married couple," he attempted to clarify. I was confused.

"I guess you could put it that way," I said slowly. "But, um, yeah. I see where you're coming from. Cynthia is a bit like my sister now, isn't she?"

"She always was," he said gently. He turned and walked away.

Dammit. I'd meant to ask him what had happened with Kate and Garrett.

* * *

**Explanation time.**

**I've tried to hint at this before. Mainly with Carlisle's 'good with kids' approach. I really didn't want to hint at these two just yet, but maybe you could tell by now thatRose didn't overdose? More on this, and a better explanation, plus some more background, next chapter, hey?**

**Just remember; it was not random.**

**पढ़ें और समीक्षा! Or as the English say it, Read and Review! (I'm finally back on the computer with Google Translate... Yay!)**


	21. Get Out Of My Head!

**I blame Josh...**

**Seriously. I spent the last three days up at my uncle's house, and he has a roommate called Josh. Josh wants to be a psychologist. So I spent a large part of the three extremely boring days talking to him. It's so nice talking to someone smart... Doesn't happen on here very often. It's why I come on here, usually, some of the people I talk to on here are smart... But he uses complicated words, and he overanalyzes everything. Plus I've got to actually go to school tomorrow, haven't gone in two weeks, stupid school... Wait, I went on Wednesdays... And I have to do my Physics exam then. So I'm in an analyzing mood, and this chapter reflects that, and my current state of mind, and god this chapter's long.**

**Well, sorry for being away for so long. Enjoy!**

* * *

"The patient should wake up in about a week," Doctor Gerandy informed Carlisle. "The combination of pills that she ingested were mostly low-strength sleeping pills. They would have been sufficient to kill her, if they had not also made her vomit, which expelled some of the chemicals. She may suffer for some weeks to come."

I was standing next to Carlisle, so I heard him say it. I breathed a sigh of relief. Rosalie was going to be fine. Until next time.

Groaning, I sat on the ground and buried my head in my hands. The two doctors couldn't be aware of the thoughts that were going through my head, and probably thought I was groaning at the thought of Rosalie waking up. Stupid retards.

Rosalie would most likely attempt to commit suicide again when she woke up. After all, I would still be with Alice; not even all my family and friends threatening to commit suicide would tear me away from Alice, let alone one girl. But the only way to save Rosalie would be to agree to Alice's mad threesome plan... What should I do?

My thoughts ran in circles for some time. I could always agree to the threesome... But not having Alice to myself would eventually drive me insane, and I'd probably kill her anyway. And then she's be dead, so that plan was a no-go. Maybe I could sleep with Rosalie on the side... But then Alice might find out, and she'd kill herself, then I'd die, then Rosalie would kill herself... That plan was worse than the first.

But I couldn't think of anything else! It was driving me insane! Maybe I could give Alice to Rose... No, then I wouldn't have Alice. Gah! No matter what I came up with, Rosalie died! It was like it was inevitable!

I needed a distraction. Looking around quickly, nothing jumped to mind. But the way those three plants were situated, it looked like they were having a threesome... Looking closer, I noticed that one of the plants seemed to have wrapped several branches around one of the other plants. Had it gone insane and... Oh god, I'm insane, aren't I? Well, I am, asking god-knows-who if I'm insane... But comparing the three of us to plants?

My cellphone vibrated in my pocket. I nearly cried in relief; I had noticed three paintings on the wall. One of them was hanging slightly askew, as though it had tried to knock another one off the wall...

"Hello?" My voice came out at least two octaves higher than normal. What was wrong with me? I checked my arms. No, I wasn't green, or framed. Why was I comparing myself to trees, then? Or paintings? Look down, Bella, look down... Those three tiles sort of looked as if they were having a threesome...

"Bella?" I focused on Charlie's voice, thankful for anything that could take my mind off threesomes. "Are you alright?" And those three words did _not_ sound like they were having a threesome. No sir, they did not. No more threesomes here. Gah, more threesomes!

"Hey, Dad," I said, concentrating on the sound of my own voice. There shouldn't be anything there that would remind me of threesomes. Unless my voice started to make the sounds that I had made during the threesome and I am so fucking sick of threesomes already! They were fucking everywhere! Even those nurses looked like they were having one!

On closer inspection, I shuddered and turned away. I think those nurses actually were having a threesome. How could she bear having a guy's rod anywhere near them? The very thought of having one near me made me want to throw up! And here was this one nurse, having it on with _two_ guys, in a public hallway! How was no one else aware of this?

"Yuck," I said, grimacing. Carlisle looked at me inquiringly, and followed my line of sight. When he saw the three, I couldn't help but laugh at the look on his face. It looked like an under-exaggerated version of the look he had had when he had walked in on my threesome...

And the threesome was back.

"What's happening?" Charlie asked, sounding cross. I bit back another laugh. I think I really was going insane. By god, Rosalie might not be safe now. "Never mind that. Bella, someone reported seeing Harry skulking around our house."

My mind was instantly diverted away from all thoughts of threesomes. And by recognizing that, the threesomes were back. I stuck them on a shelf, beat them down, and focused back on what Charlie was telling me.

Harry Edward. Why was that prick hanging around my house? I'd beat the fuck out of him if he ever came near me again! Fucking jerk, how dare he come near my house, threaten my Alice-

Alice. Alice lived with me. Edward wasn't only threatening me by sneaking around my house, he was threatening my Alice. He was threatening my life twice over. No matter who he got here, I'm sure neither of us would survive. If he got me, he would kill me, and Alice would do a Rosalie. On the other hand, if he got Alice, I'd most likely try and kill him, and if I succeeded, I'd do the same...

"That bastard!" I shrieked. "Why can't he just leave us the fuck alone?"

"Language, Bella," he said sternly. "I've told you before that you should only call people bastards when they actually were, and Edward's parents are happily married, and have been since several years before Edward was born."

"Sorry, Dad," I said contritely. Fine. I would only call him a bastard in my head. "That prick! Is that better?"

He laughed at my foolishness. "I've got the police hunting him, as a top priority," he said. "Don't worry, Bella. I'm sure he won't be able to hurt you."

"What about Alice?" I asked. The worry in my voice caught him.

"When I said nothing would hurt you, that included him getting Alice," he said gently. "I'm fairly sure that him getting Alice would hurt you, wouldn't it, Bella?"

"Sure would," I agreed. "Hurt like all hell."

"Atta girl," he said proudly. "Now listen. I've got to go now, there's some more calls coming in now, but I'll try to keep you updated, okay?"

"Okay, Dad," I said glumly. The shelf broke, and the damn threesomes came rushing back. "Love you."

"Love you to," he said gently, and promptly hung up. I knew he wasn't doing it to be rude. He really would have a lot of calls to pick up. I was his daughter, after all, and the prick was after me, so he would do his very best to try and save me from it all.

"What's happened?" Carlisle asked, a concerned look on his face. I saw him looking at my hand. Looking down, I saw three of my fingers, locked together. My index finger seemed to be trying to strangle my ring finger...

They might have heard my 'FUCK!" from outside. I'm not sure. But everyone in Rosalie's ward heard it loud and clear. I was swearing a lot now. I was suffering Alice withdrawals. My girlfriend had had to go downstairs and buy some drinks. She had been gone for twenty fucking minutes! I would kill that drinks machine if she wasn't back in ten minutes...

How do you kill a machine, anyway? It never made sense to me. Machines weren't alive. How could you kill something that wasn't alive? That's impossible! It just doesn't-

Alice stuck her head around the corner of the wall, her face lighting up when she saw me. I grinned in response, my previous manic mood disappearing. All thoughts, of killing machines, of Edward, or of threesomes, were gone. One thought filled my mind; _Alice is back_! Then I laughed ruefully to myself. She had only been gone twenty minutes. Was I that addicted to my little mute?

She bounced towards me. Literally bounced. There was no bending of her knees or anything. She just bounced along, her feet slapping on the cold hospital floors, going back up every time her feet touched the ground. Four cans of soft drink sat balanced precariously in her arms. All Coke, I was pleased to see. No Pepsi here, no.

I launched myself forwards, wrapping her in a giant hug. She was startled when I bent my head down and started kissing her face, all over, but didn't complain, bending her head to allow me to kiss her without hurting myself.

"Want one?" I asked. I looked down, and noticed that she was only holding two cans now. I looked around, lifting an eyebrow at her. Then I blushed, when I realized that my headlong tackle had sent two cans flying. I hadn't even noticed, I was so busy with my Alice. Oh, god, I was so addicted. She was worse than the drugs I used to take. At least she didn't make me shiver, I reflected.

And then I shivered, as she ran her free left hand down my spine. I scowled at her. That had been the perfect thing, until she had ruined it. She beamed at me. No force on Earth could resist that smile.

"You're a little devil," I informed her, leaning in to kiss the side of her mouth. She glared at me, before shrugging and nodding her head. Her mood swings were worse than mine. Maybe she was on her period. No, I would have noticed. Besides, she wasn't due for another two weeks. When would we shift to match each other? That happened between close friends, didn't it? Why were ours still different?

Alice was smiling blissfully against me, her head buried in my breasts. What the hell- why was she smiling like that? Could it have something to do with-

My phone. It was vibrating in my pocket, which just so happened to be where the fork of Alice's legs were resting. No wonder she was smiling like that. She was probably getting off of someone calling me. Strange girl.

I pulled it out and flipped it open, ignoring Alice scowling at me. "Hello?" I asked.

"Bella." It was Cynthia. She was sniffling, and her voice sounded hoarse. What was wrong with her? Had she been crying? Why would my sister me crying?

"What's wrong?" I asked, sounding concerned. Alice clung to me like I imagined a monkey would- or maybe a koala. Those little Australian monkeys held onto their mothers, didn't they? Probably. It made more sense to say koala. Monkey just didn't describe Alice at the moment, who seemed to be turning into a statue.

"Mother and Father are considering moving again," she sniffled. "And Bella, what's going to happen to me if they move me?"

"Why should anything happen to-" The next breath I drew in came in sharp and short. Alice, apparently deciding that she wanted my attention, had stuck her hand down my pants. Right in the view of the threesoming people. Nice. I continued, trying not to let any strain in my voice. Her hands felt nice. "Why should anything happen to you, Cynthia?"

She sobbed again. "Bella, when my parents abandoned Alice, the police became involved. They couldn't find Alice, but by that time, they had me, didn't they? The police told them, if they ever threw me out, then they'd arrest them for neglect. It was only that that stopped them from kicking me out when I came out to them. If we move, then I lose that protection, Bella."

I drew in a deep breath. Who did I know that was willing to take in a kid that was mostly unknown to them, based on nothing but pure trust and faith? I only knew one person like that.

"I'll talk to Carlisle, 'kay?" I said gently. "Carlisle might be able to take you in. Is that alright?"

"You're a life saver, sis," she said. At the last word, I could her her stiffen. Almost literally. Did she just call me her sister? I think she did.

"Sure am, sis," I said cheerfully. With that one little gesture, I let her know that she wasn't being too forward, that she could indeed regard me as a sister. That I regarded her as my sister in turn. What could be better?

"Thanks, Bella," she said gratefully. "For everything. I'll call and let you know, okay? They might not move, after all. It's just that they might, and if they do..."

"I know," I assured her. "Now, if you'll let me go, I need both hands to extract your sister's hand from down my pants."

"Too much information," she shuddered. "Goodbye, Bella." And the dialtone rang in my ear. I flipped the phone closed, and concentrated on Alice. I had two immediate choices. I could either pull her hand out, or I could find the nearest broom closet.

And, as luck would have it, we were standing right next to one.

* * *

**Okay. I think there's like, maybe seven or eight more chapters to go. That's it. Might make it an even thirty, hey? And no sequel this time, there will be an epilogue...**

**To those people who still haven't figured out what happened to Rosalie; hahaha, dumbasses...**

**I have decided that I will be repeating Year 11. Even if I don't move to Sydney. Okay? So that means... *Drum Roll* I'll be able to work on my fanfics at school! And I might even actually update my original fic, I have like, six more chapters written for it...**

**Ah, well. Sorry for being away so long. You still love me, don't ya?**


	22. Awake Now

**This chapter is for all those dumbasses who couldn't figure out what had happened to Rose. Dumbasses.**

* * *

Alice was sitting on my lap, pretending to sleep again. I had gotten quite adept at telling when she was faking sleep, which was most of the time, and when she was really sleeping. When she was really sleeping, she would snore, but she wouldn't drool, and she would make funny movements with her mouth.

I had my arms around her, supporting her so she didn't fall. She didn't know that I knew she was pretending, but it was nice. When she was awake, she was always bouncing around in a frantic ball, waiting for Rosalie to wake up. The doctors said that she cold wake up any moment now. The machines that measured her heartbeats were currently going mad. She would be awake soon.

"Alice," I whispered softly, pretending as if she was asleep. It was better to humour her. If she knew that I knew, she would stop it altogether, and that would mean that she would be more tired together. This way, she rested her eyes sometimes. And I didn't want to see her gorgeous face ruined by heavier black bags. The ones she had already were enough.

She stirred on my lap, knocking my arms away. I moved them so that she could sit up and look around. She noticed the heart machine. Her reaction was so Alice; she tried to lean forwards to look at it better, while trying to pluck my sleeve so that I could see, while still trying to sit on my lap. Predictably, she failed in all three, and fell off, landing in an undignified sprawl on the ground.

"You okay?" I asked, concerned. Other people might find humour in it, but I knew from experience just how hard these hospital floors could be. Alice could wake up tomorrow with a giant bruise all along her bottom now. And I didn't want that, no I didn't.

She nodded, trying to alleviate my concern. Standing, she took my arm, obviously unwilling to part with me even for a moment, and led me over to Rosalie's bed, where she could check the machines. The sight was sobering. Poor Rosalie.

"Rosalie,"I called softly. "Time to wake up, Rose." I had no idea if it would work or not, but if I didn't wake her up like this, then she would probably wake up and scare the hell out of me when my back was turned. This way, it wouldn't be sudden or anything.

She groaned, shooing me away with her hand. I smiled grimly, and leaned in closer. "Rose!" I yelled, straight into her ear. Predictably, she woke up with a start, nearly falling out. At least she was awake now. If only I could come up with a solution to my threesome problem... Damn them threesomes.

She looked at me with wide eyes. "Where am I?" she asked, her voice shaky and groggy. How did she manage that? God knows how this woman does anything. At least the bags under her eyes were gone. She looked strange without them.

"You're in the hospital, dumbass," I snapped. Stupid woman. How could she not realize where she was? Where did she think she was going to go after she tried to commit suicide? The candy store? God, what a stupid question.

She sighed in relief. "I guess that means Edward didn't take me?"

I froze. Had she just said what I thought she had said, or had I just thought she had said what I thought she had said? God, what a confusing sentence, even in my own head. What was up with my head lately? "Edward?"

"What about him?" she asked, alert. "Oh, god, Bella, you gotta call your dad. We need the cops to get over to my house as soon as possible, Edward was there. I came home, and he was there, and he-"

"Wait there," I said, confused. "Edward was there? How does that fit in with you trying to commit suicide and ending up here?"

"Suicide?" she asked indignantly. "Why would I try to commit suicide?"

"I don't know," I mumbled. Over the other side of her bed, Alice was giving me the strangest look. It was sort of a mixture of a smile, a grimace and a glare. How were those even compatible together? It made no sense! She shouldn't be able to do all this!

"No," she continued. "It was Edward. I was walking back up to my house..."

_Rosalie was walking back up to her house, with two boxes in her pocket. Each one had cost her nearly a thousand dollars, but she had millions left from her mother's accounts, which had been passed on to her, now that she was I prison for life. One necklace each, for Alice and Bella._

_The front door was slightly askew. She didn't take any notice beyond actually noticing that it was. Her thoughts were all centered on how pleased Alice and Bella would be when she gave them the necklaces. She couldn't wait._

_She moved into the kitchen, thanking her lucky stars that she was eighteen and allowed to move back into this house. Otherwise, she might have been forced to move into a random stranger's house for god-knows-how-long. And then how would she see the two?_

_Her second clue, that again she took no notice of, that something was wrong, was the empty box of sleeping pills laying on the bench. Maybe she had used the last of them last night, and had been so tired that she had forgotten to throw the box out. Shrugging, she threw the empty box into the bin, and placed the necklace boxes on the bench._

_Humming, she turned to walk out into the lounge room, planning to turn n the T.V, when she noticed the muddy print on the floor. If her mind hadn't been so full of Alice and Bella lately, maybe she would have realized that it wasn't wet out the front, only out the back, where the sprinklers were turned on. But she shrugged this off, too._

_And found out her mistake when two arms wrapped around her from behind, and cold metal touched her neck. Looking down, she nearly wet herself when she saw a knife blade there. Who would want to threaten her with a knife?_

"_Hello, girl," a voice hissed menacingly behind her. "Remember me? No? Well, you should!"_

"_I remember you," she mumbled slowly. "You're Harry Edward, aren't you? One of the pricks who tried to rape Bella? Why are you here?"_

"_Your little friend has gotten me in a lot of trouble," he hissed. "I can't even go home now, thanks to her. Does that strike you as fair, when she's allowed to walk around wherever she wants?"_

"_She didn't try to rape anybody," Rosalie countered. "So yes, it does seem fair."_

"_Shut up," he said softly, holding the knife even closer. It still didn't cut her, but now, if she so much as twitched, the knife would slice deep into her throat, killing her._

"_What do you want?" she asked tiredly._

"_Not much," he continued softly. "Just a little... revenge."_

"_Kill me then," she whispered softly. "You'll be one of the prime suspects, you know."_

"_Maybe," he shrugged softly. "Or maybe you'll take the second option out. You see, I have two options for you today. Option one, I can kill you myself. This would be messy, and would very probably take a long time. I know a lot of ways to hurt you without killing you. Unfortunately, as you said, they would have me as a suspect. Option two, you can take these." He held out a handful of sleeping pills._

"_And why would I do that?" Her voice was contemptuous. Why would she take them, just to save herself the extra pain it would bring?_

"_Because whichever option you choose, they choose also," he crooned into her ear. "Now which would you prefer for them? Would you want them butchered painfully, and have three murders added to my rap sheet? Or would you prefer them to just go to sleep, and never wake up?"_

"_Pills," she said hoarsely. That knife was starting to edge closer. Much closer, and she would start bleeding. Not that she would mind if it did, but at the same time, she would. It might help the police figure out what had happened, but at the same time, it would hurt._

"_Good girl," he said softly. His hands, however, weren't soft, as they roughly jerked her head up and forced her mouth open. Not even a drink to help her swallow them. Just a bunch of dry pills, heading down her throat, making her choke._

"_Goodbye," he said cheerfully. "I'll be watching the news. It'll be good to hear that you're dead. Don't disappoint me, girl. I won't offer the suicide a second time."_

_The pills finally rolled into her stomach. She collapsed, trying to hold in the nausea that was coming. She didn't want to die in a pool of her own vomit. That would be a horrible position to die in. Local girl Rosalie Hale was found dead, in a puddle of her own vomit.._

_The nausea wouldn't be held in, unfortunately. It rose in her throat, getting higher and higher, until eventually, it spilled out of her in a tide. Just before she collapsed, she noticed several small, white pills in the vomit._

"And then I woke up here," she concluded. "Now, does that sound like suicide to you?"

"I think I'll call my father," I said shakily. Alice noticed, and walked over to me, stroking my arm, and leaning up to kiss me. I stopped shaking so much, and instead started losing my train of thought. When she stopped, I remembered, and started shaking again. She hugged me from behind, trying to stop me shaking.

I flipped my phone open, dialing in Charlie's number. It rang for a few seconds before he picked up,

"Hey, Dad?" I said. "I think you'd better come down here, and talk to Rose. She has some information that you just might want to know."

* * *

**So, Rose didn't commit suicide... Although, she is still convinced that the threesome will be on. What do you guys think? Should I keep the threesome right through to the end, or end it, and have just AxB?** **You decide. I will wait until 8:00 tonight, that gives you, oh, 4 hours?**

**Yeah, well, Read and Review. (I'm getting sick of Google Translate stuffing up...)  
**


	23. Interview

**Ehhh, a bit of a short chapter here... I've been a bit busy later.**

**I finally got school sorted out. I'm not going to repeat Year 11. Instead, I've gone on a program called 'Pathways'. So, I'll have more time to sort out these fanfics and such. :) Although, if I do move to Sydney, then I might not be able to continue on with pathways...**

**Anyway, enjoy...**

* * *

Charlie was currently in the hospital room with Rosalie, taking her statement as to what happened. He had asked me to leave the room; police interviews were meant to happen only with the involved parties present, and maybe legal aid or something. If I was there, then Edward could possibly use that in court.

I was tucked up against Alice, who was, once again, pretending to sleep. I don't know why she drooled when she pretended to sleep. It might be as simple as she thought it made her look more convincing, or maybe she just loved the thought of being near me.

I myself felt like nodding off. Unfortunately, I had been having trouble getting to sleep lately. It took me hours to get to sleep when I was laying next to her. And I had to lay next to her if I wanted to get to sleep. Even then, I only slept for a couple of hours. Bruises were beginning to appear under my own eyes.

Alice moved against me, wrapping herself even more against me. She was nice and soft against me, like a nice, fluffy pillow. Yes, that was it exactly. Alice was my pillow. That described her exactly. Except she wasn't fat, or made of material. And she kissed back. Maybe she wasn't so much of a pillow.

Next to me, or it could be described as around me, she was really starting to go to sleep. Hopefully, Charlie would take just take five more minutes. She needed this sleep. And the extra warmth wouldn't kill me, either. It'd probably keep me alive.

When would Carlisle walk past? I needed to talk to Carlisle. I hadn't seen him for three days- since the day Rosalie woke up, actually. And even then, he had been too busy watching to see if Rosalie would relapse to talk to me. How was I supposed to speak to him about Cynthia if I couldn't even talk to him?

Speak of the devil, and he would appear. Unfortunately, Carlisle was not the devil, and thinking of him did not make him appear in front of me. Not that I had really hoped that would work. That would have been stupid, even for me.

Alice was starting to sleep now, her breaths coming longer, drool no longer coming out of her mouth. She still snored, but I thought that was cute. She was tucked up against me as close as she could get, her hands clutching my shirt. It would take z crowbar to pry her away from me. And none of the homophobic doctors here had one on them. I hoped.

I caught Charlie's eye as he was asking Rosalie a question. He winked at me, probably trying to reassure me that everything was fine. He shouldn't have wasted his time. Everything was not fine. Harry Edward was after us, intent on killing all of us. In the most painful way he could find. Alice's sister, the girl I considered to be my sister, might soon lose her home. The doctor I trusted more than anything wasn't talking to me. How was everything fine?

Well, Alice was beside me. To me, I guess that meant that everything was fine. If Alice was taken from me, then I would be far from fine. I would probably lose it, break down. I would end up committed to a mental asylum, locked up in a loony bin.

Redundant questions. Alice was with me, and hopefully, nothing would change that. If Alice ever left, I would go to the ends of the earth to save her. I'd go further. I'd save up and by a rocket, and maybe travel to the moon. As far as I needed to go. I would never leave her behind.

Truth be told, I had left her once already. The very thought made me feel sick to my stomach, and I tried to think of it as little as possible. The time during which I had had partial amnesia was, right now, the lowest point of my life. The years before that were bleak, desolate, because Alice hadn't been in them. But that time... Alice had been there, and I had pushed her away. The way she had looked then... It was one of the things that kept me awake at night.

That would never happen again. I vowed that to myself every time I thought of this. I will never leave Alice, even if she wants me to. If she asks me to leave, I will fight to get her back. She was my life. And, according to... Carlisle... I was hers. For her to leave me would be the equivalent of her killing me.

Morbid thoughts like these kept flashing through my mind, and I was having difficulty stopping myself from crying. The tears were building up in my eyes, and I was desperately holding them back, not wanting the hospital workers see me cry. They would lose all respect for me then.

Alice shifted silently against me. Her mouth was making funny movements, not exactly words, but not anything recognizable, either. Maybe Alice had learned another language. No, that was stupid. Why would she learn another language if she was a mute? That would be like teaching a blind person to read English. Pointless.

Maybe if I concentrated hard enough, Carlisle would turn up. I frowned at one spot beside the stairs, thinking, _Carlisle, Carlisle, Carlisle._ So you can imagine my surprise when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I nearly fell off the chair.

It wasn't Carlisle. Apparently, my magic powers were rusty. Maybe Dorothy would lead me to the Wicked Witch of the West. But until then, I had to focus, and remember who this blonde girl was. Was she a flower... Tulip? No. Violet... Probably not. Lavender?

"Rose?" The name came unbidden to my lips, and I remembered. I grinned guiltily at her. How could I have forgotten Rosalie's name? That was like, the height of stupid. Only stupid people would do that. Apparently, I has concentrated so hard on Carlisle appearing, that I had forgotten other, slightly more important details. At least I hadn't forgotten about Alice...

"Hey, Bella," she said hoarsely. I wished Dorothy would come faster. If she came fast enough, then I could heal her throat. Wait... Wasn't the Wicked Witch of the West wicked? What good would going to her do? She'd turn me into a frog!

And why was I obsessing over the Wizard of Oz? Harry Potter would be better. Yes, maybe I could go there, and have Hermione teach me. Better than the Wicked Witch. Probably hotter, too. Imagine what she could do with that wand...

"Bella!" I jerked my attention back to Rosalie, whop was glaring at me impatiently. The lack of sleep was beginning to affect me. Had I seriously just imagined making out with Hermione Granger?... A fictional character? That was weird. My thoughts were all over the place. Besides, I had Alice. Maybe Alice could dress up as Hermione?

"Sorry, Rose," I apologized, feeling slightly ashamed. Not too ashamed, just slightly. Maybe there was an upside to being tired all the time. I wasn't fee;ling overly guilty about anything. I could probably end the threesome, here and now... No, not while I was tired. I'd probably say the wrong thing and make her go commit suicide.

"I talked to your father," she said calmly. "He told me how that creep is hanging out around your house. Lucky your dad's a cop. Wish mine was a cop..."

"Who is your father?" I asked curiously. She shrugged, and quickly changed the subject. Of course, I noticed, but to be honest, I didn't really care. Unless he went insane and locked her in a basement, he probably wouldn't do anything to mess her up.

"I wish Carlisle was better," she sighed. I jerked, looking at her. Better? Did that mean he was sick? Was he not ignoring me? Maybe I could talk to him about Cynthia... If he ever got better, that is. It would do no good to talk to him while he was sick.

"Do you think Edward will be coming for you again?" I asked, beginning to feel scared. If he went after Rose, he could easily come after me. And if he came after me, I'd probably go quietly. I'd been hurt enough for one lifetime. Other people went their whole lives without being shot...

"I don't think he will," she said softly. "But if he does, then I know he'll be going after you. Maybe... I should be safe, at least for now. He probably thinks I'm dead by now, and if he doesn't, he's closer to getting you."

"Thanks," I said dryly. "Nice to see you're so concerned with me."

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**I don't think there's very many chapters left here. More than I originally estimated, but still less than forty. :)**

**For my next project, I've decided to work on Possessed Protection. This will be more of a challenge for me... You see, it contains a bunch of original characters, as well as the characters we all know and love... Besides Vamp Edward. I'll still be working on Fallen Angel and Eternal Dusk.**


	24. Text

**Okay. Before you read this, and hopefully review, know this;**

**I know the chapter is written badly. If I stay home from school tomorrow, I'll rewrite it and all. Otherwise, deal with it.**

**Oh my god, I haven't updated for a week! I'm so lazy... Sorry!**

* * *

I sat, shaking, as I looked at the text. The message was simple, an ordinary come-here-or-she-dies sort of text. Ordinary to Charlie, anyway. But I was less used to it.

Yesterday, after Rosalie had finally been released from hospital, Alice had gone to see her. I admit, I was jealous, and asked her not to go. Well, more told her. I regretted it the second I told her not to go, but by then, it was too late.

Alice had been furious, and I felt like I was in shock. Why on Earth had I said that? I was still berating myself today, even after she had gone and there was nothing I could do about it. God, I'm an idiot.

Understandably, she had stormed out after running upstairs and grabbing her clothes. All ones she had made herself, I noted. She had been so angry, she hadn't even remembered to take her cellphone.

I had called several times, trying to apologize. After the fifth time it had rang through, I had gotten the message. Alice didn't want to talk to me. And so, depressed, I had gone to bed.

And now, this morning, I had woken up to find the text waiting for me. It had sent chills down my spine as I read it.

**I have your girlfriend. Meet me on the Western Highway at ten o'clock tonight. Come alone. If you do not come, or if you bring others, then she dies. Edward.**

Charlie had walked in, taken one look at me, staring at my phone, and had grabbed it off me. One look at what it said, and he had taken out his own phone, and was calling in every police officer available.

And I hadn't moved. Not one inch. I hadn't even tried to move. My thoughts were going into overdrive. Was Alice alright? If he hurt Alice, I'd never forgive myself. Was Rosalie alright? What would happen?

My cellphone still lay next to me, waiting for someone to call. Hopefully Carlisle would call soon. He had called yesterday. The doctor was still mulling over whether to accept Cynthia into his house.

Speak of the devil... My phone rang. I had been hoping so hard that it would ring, that when it did, I didn't even realize for a second. I scrambled to pick it up, and was disappointed.

"Bella!" Cynthia sounded as enthusiastic as ever. I was feeling shaky, as if I couldn't hold myself together. Truth be told, I'm not sure I could. Everything just seemed to be swirling, and I couldn't hold it in.

"Sis." My voice cracked as I said the word. It reminded me of everything I stood to lose, if I didn't hand myself over to that bastard. I thought stuff like this only happened on soaps...

"What's wrong, Bella?" she asked, sounding concerned. Well, that didn't help in the least. If anything, it made me feel worse. Why was everyone being so kind to me? I had basically condemned Alice!

"Alice." My traitorous mouth just wouldn't shut up. Shut up, mouth! Not one more word! "She's gone." Goddamn it...

"What?" Cynthia sounded more alert now. I could just imagine her pacing. "Did you two have a fight, or something?"

"We did," I replied softly. "But that's not it, sis. He took her. The bastard took her! And she's gone, and it's all my fault. I feel so bad, and no one else blames me, but I know it was all me-"

"Slow down," Cynthia instructed me. "Who took Alice where?"

"Edward," I mumbled. "Edward took Alice. He's insane. He took her, and he's going to hurt her unless I go to him. I'm scared, Cynth."

"Can I talk to your father for a bit?" She was still being gentle, but now I was feeling more depressed than ever. Why were they all so kind to me? Why didn't Cynthia want to talk to me? Everything was going wrong...

"Sure." I signaled Charlie, who came over and took my phone.

I listened in on the one-sided conversation. I caught only snippets, but even that was enough.

"Yes, he took her."

"Harry Edward. He's a kid from Bella's school, tried to rape her. I think he's a bit unstable. He took Alice to make sure Bella does what he says."

"I know. She's very torn up about it."

"Yeah, sure. I'll send someone over to get you now."

He snapped the phone shut. "Cynthia is at the airport now," Charlie said quietly. "Apparently, her parents moved quite suddenly. She says she couldn't get a hold of you until now, and wanted to know if Carlisle was ready."

"He's not," I mumbled. "Let her stay here."

"She can stay here," he agreed. "Now, listen, Bella. I know this isn't good timing and all, but I think we've come up with a plan to take down Edward without getting Alice hurt. It's risky, but. It might work."

"I'll do anything," I whispered hoarsely. "Anything."

"Good," he said, pleased. "Now, here's what I need you to do."

* * *

**Honestly... I'm getting bored with this story. I'm going to wrap it up in 4 chapters. 3 more chapters, and an epilogue. Don't like it? Tough.**

**Ummm... Don't abandon my story...**


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